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ADYENTUEES OF CAPTAIN BONNEVILLE. 
Iinicfecrtiocftct ^Stiition* 




WIND RIVER MOUNTAINS 



NEW YORK:. & F. PaTNAM.16 6 



THE 

ADVENTFFFS 



CAPTAIN BONNEVILLE, U. S. A. 



EOCKY MOUNTAINS AND THE FAE WEST. 



DIGESTED FROM HTS JOUENAL AND ILLUSTRATED FROM 
VARIOUS OTHER SOURCES 



BY 

WASHINGTON IRVING. 

AUTHOR'S REVISED EDITION, 
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME. 



NEW tOKK: 

G. P. PUTNAM AND SON, G61 Broadway 

Opposite Bond Street. 

18G8. 



■I'] II. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by 

G. P. Putnam and Son, 

in the Clerk's Ofiace of the District Court for the Southern District of 

New York. 



D,Oom.ji;Lati 
27 Je'CH 



RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE : 

STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BT 

U. 0. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY. 




CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

PAQB 

State of the fur trade of the Rocky jMountains. — Amer- 
ican enterprises. — General Ashley and his asso- 
ciates. — Sublette, a famous leader. — Yearly ren- 
dezvous among the mountains. — Stratagems and 
dangers of the trade. — Bands of trappers. — Indian 
banditti. — Crows and Blackfeet. — Mountaineers. 

— Traders of the Far West. — Character and habits 

of the trapper 27 

CHAPTER n. 

Departure from Fort Osage. — Modes of transportation. 

— Pack-horses. — Wagons. — Walker and Cerre ; 
their characters. — Buoyant feelings on launching 
upon the Prairies — Wild equipments of the trap- 
pers. — Their gambols and antics. — Difference of 
character between the American and French trap- 
pers. — Agency of the Kansas. — General Clarke. 

— White Plume, the Kansas Chief. — Night scene 
in a trader's camp. — Colloquy between White 
Plume and the Captain. — Bee-hunters. — Their 
expeditions. — Their feuds with the Indians. — 
Bargaining talent of White Plume . . . .39 

CHAPTER III. 

Wide prairies. — Vegetable productions. — Tabular hills. 

— Slabs of sandstone. — Nebraska or Platte River. 

— Scanty fare. — Buffalo skulls. — Wagons turned 



VI CONTENTS. 



into boats. — Herds of BufFalo. — Cliffs resembling 
castles. — The Chimney. — Scott's Bluffs. — Story 
connected with them. — The bighorn or ahsahta, — 
its nature and habits. — Difference between that 
and the " woolly sheep," or goat of the mountains 50 

CHAPTER IV. 

An alarm. — Crow Indians — their appearance — mode 
of approach — their vengeful errand — their curios- 
ity. — Hostility between the Crows and Blackfeet, 

— Loving conduct of the Crows. — Laramie's Fork. 

— First navigation of the Nebraska. — Great eleva- 
tion of the country. — Rarit}'- of the atmosphere — its 
effect on tlie wood-work of wagons. — Black Hills 

— their Avild and broken scenery. — Indian dogs. 

— Crow trophies. — Sterile and dreary country. — 
Banks of the Sweet Water. — Buffalo hunting. — 
Adventure of Tom Cain, the Irish cook ... 59 

CHAPTER V. 

Magnificent scenery. — Wind River Mountains. — Treas- 
ury of waters. — A stray horse. — An Indian trail. 

— Trout streams. — The Great Green River Valley. 

— An alarm. — A band of trappers. — Fontenelle, 
his information. — Sufferings of thirst. — Encamp- 
ment on the Seeds-ke-dee. — Strategy of rival 
traders. — Fortification of the camp. — The Black- 
feet. — Banditti of the mountains. — Their charac- 
ter and habits 72 

CHAPTER VL 

Sublette and his band. — Robert Campbell. — Mr. 
Wyeth and a band of " Down-easters." — Yankee 
enterprise. — Fitzpatrick — his adventure with the 
Blackfeet. — A rendezvous of mountaineers. — The 
battle of Pierre's Hole. — An Indian ambuscade. — 
Sublette's return 83 



CONTENTS. vii 



CHAPTER VII. 



PAGE 



Retreat of the Blackfeet. — Fontenelle's camp in dan- 
ger. — Captain Bonneville and the Blackfeet.— 
Free trappers — their character, habits, dress, equip- 
ments, horses. — Game fellows of the mountains — 
their visit to the camp. — Good fellowship and 
good cheer. — A carouse. — A swagger, a brawl, 
and a reconciliation 100 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Plans for the winter.— Salmon River.— Abundance of 
salmon west of the mountains. — New arrange- 
ments. — Caches. — Cerr^'s detachment. — Move- 
ments in Fontenelle's camp. — Departure of the 
Blackfeet— their fortunes —Wind ]\Iountain streams. 

— Buckeye, the Delaware hunter, and the grizzly- 
bear. — Bones of murdered travellers. — Visit to 
Pierre's Hole. — Traces of the battle. — Nez Percd 
Indians.- Arrival at Salmon River. . . .107 

CHAPTER IX. 

Horses turned loose. — Preparations for winter-quarters. 

— Hungry times. — Nez Perces, their honesty, piety, 
pacific habits, religious ceremonies. — Captain Bon- 
neville's conversations with them. — Their love of 
gambling 117 

CHAPTER X. 

Blackfeet in the Horse Prairie. — Search after the hun- 
ters. — Ditficulties and dangers. — A card party in 
the wilderness. — The card party interrupted.— 
"Old Sledge," a losing game. — Visitors to the 
camp.— Iroquois hunters.— Hanging-eared Indians. 123 

CHAPTER XI. 

Rival trapping parties. — Maneuvering. — A desperate 
game. —Vanderburgh and the Blackfeet.— Deserted 



Viii CONTENTS. 



camp fire. — A dark defile. — An Indian ambush. — 
A fierce mel^e. — Fatal consequences. — Fitzpatrick 
and Bridger. — Trappers' precautions. — Meeting 
■with the Blackfeet. — More fighting. — Anecdote 
of a young Mexican and an Indian girl . . . 129 

CHAPTER XII. 

A M'inter camp in the wilderness. — Medley of trappers, 
hunters, and Indians. — Scarcity of game. — New 
arrangements in the camp. — Detachments sent to 
a distance. — Carelessness of the Indians -when en- 
camped. — Sickness among the Indians. — Excellent 
character of the Nez Perces. — The Captain's effort 
as a pacificator. — A Nez Percy's argument in fa- 
vor of war. — Robberies by the Blackfeet. — Long 
suffering of the Nez Percys. — A hunter's elysiura 
among the mountains. — More robberies. — The 
Captain preaches up a crusade. — The effect upon 
his hearers 137 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Story of Kosato, the renegade Blackfoot . . . 152 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The party enters the mountain gorge. — A wild fast- 
ness among the hills. — Mountain mutton. — Peace 
and plenty. — The amorous trapper. — A piebald 
wedding. — A free trapper's wife — her gala equip- 
ments. — Christmas in the wilderness . . . 157 

CHAPTER XV. 

A hunt after hunters. — Hungry times. — A voracious 
repast. — Wintry weather. — Godin's River. — 
Splendid winter scene on the great lava plain of 
Snake River. — Severe travelling and tramping in 
the snow. — Maneuvers of a solitary Indian horse- 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 



man. — Encampment on Snake River. — Banneck 
Indians. — The Horse chief — his charmed life . 165 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Misadventures of INIatthieu and his party. — Return to 
the caches at Sahnon River. — Battle between Nez 
Percys and Blackfeet. — Heroism of a Nez Perce 
woman — enrolled among the braves . . . 176 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Opening of the caches. — Detachments of Cerr^ and 
Hodgkiss. — Salmon River Mountains. — Supersti- 
tion of an Indian trapper. — Godiu's River. — Prepa- 
rations for trapping. — An alarm. — An interrup- 
tion. — A rival band. — Phenomena of Snake River 
Plain. — Vast clefts and chasms. — Ingulfed streams. 

— Sublime scenery. —A grand buffalo hunt . . 185 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Meeting with Hodgkiss. — Misfortunes of the Nez Per- 
ces. — Schemes of Kosato, the renegade — his foray 
into the Horse Prairie. — Invasion of Blackfeet. — 
Blue John, and his forlorn hope — their generous 
enterprise — their fate. — Consternation and despair 
of the village. — Solemn obsequies. — Attempt at 
Indian trade. — Hudson's Bay Company's monopoly. 

— Arrangements for autumn. — Breaking up of an 
encampment 195 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Precautions in dangerous defiles. — Trappers' mode of 
defense on a prairie. — A mysterious visitor. — Ar- 
rival in Green River Valley. — Adventures of the 
detachments. — The forlorn partisan — his tale of 
disasters 207 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XX. 

PAGE 

Gathering in Green River Valley. — Yisitings and feast- 
ings of leaders. — Rough wassailing among the trap- 
pers. — Wild blades of the mountains. — Indian 
belles. — Potency of bright beads and red blankets. 

— Arrival of supplies. — Revelry and extravagance. 

— Mad wolves. — The lost Indian • . . . 215 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Schemes of Captain Bonneville. — The Great Salt Lake. 

— Expedition to explore it. — Preparations for a 
journey to the Bighorn 220 

CHAPTER XXII. 

The Crow country. — A Crow paradise. — Habits of the 
Crows. — Anecdotes of Rose, the renegade white 
man — his fights with the Blackfeet — his elevation 

— his death. — Arapooish, the Crow chief — his 
eagle. — Adventure of Robert Campbell. — Honor 
among Crows 225 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Departure from Green River Valley. — Pope Agie — its 
course — the rivers into which it runs. — Sceneiy of 
the Bluffs. — The great Tar Spring. — Volcanic 
tracts in the Crow country. — Burning mountain 
of Powder River. — Sulphur springs. — Hidden 
fires. — Colter's Hell. — Wind River. — Campbell's 
party. — Fitzpatrick and his trappers. — Captain 
Stewart, an amateur traveller. — Nathaniel Wyeth 

— anecdotes of his expedition to the Far West. — 
Disaster of Campbell's party. — A union of bands. 

— The Bad Pass. — The rapids. — Departure of 
Fitzpatrick. — Embarkation of peltries. — Wyeth 
and his bull boat. — Adventures of Captain Bon- 
neville in the Bighorn Mountains. — Adventures in 
the plain. — Traces of Indians. — Travelling pre- 



CONTENTS. XI 



PAGE 

cautions. — Dangers of making a smolce. — The 
rendezvous 234 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Adventures of the party of ten. — The Balaamite mule. 

— A dead point. — The mysterious ellvs. — A night 
attack. — A retreat. — Travelling under an alarm. 

— A joyful meeting. — Adventures of the other par- 
ty. — A decoy elk. — Retreat to an island. — A sav- 
age dance of triumph. — Arrival at Wind River . 246 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Captain Bonneville sets out for Green River Yalley. — 
Journey up the Popo Agie. — Buffaloes. — The star- 
ing white bears. — The smoke. — The warm springs. 

— Attempt to traverse the Wind River Mountains. 

— The Great Slope. — Mountain dells and chasms. 

— Crj'stal lakes. — Ascent of a snow}" peak. — Sub- 
lime prospect. — A panorama. — '' Les dignes de 
pitie," or wild men of the mountains . . . S53 

CHAPTER XXVL 

A retrograde move. — Channel of a mountain torrent. — 
Alpine scenery. — Cascades. — Beaver valleys. — 
Beavers at work — their architecture — their modes 
of felling trees. — Mode of trapping beaver. — Con- 
tests of skill. — A beaver " up to trap." — Arrival 
at the Green River caches 263 

CHAPTER XXYir. 

Route towards Wind River. — Dangerous neighbor- 
hood. — Alarms and precautions. — A sham en- 
campment. — Apparition of an Indian spy. — Mid- 
night move. — A mountain defile. — The Wind 
River Valley. — Tracking a party. — Deserted 
camps. — Symptoms of Crows. — Meeting of com- 
rades. — A trapper entrapped. — Crow pleasantry. 



xii CONTENTS, 



PAGE 



— Crow spies. — A decampment. — Return to Green 
River Valley. — Meeting with Fitzpatrick's party — 
their adventures among the Crows. — Orthodox 
Crows 271 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

A region of natural curiosities. — The plain of white 
clay. — Hot springs. — The Beer Spring. — De- 
parture to seek the free trappers. — Plain of Port- 
neuf. — Lava. — Chasms and gullies. — Banneck 
Indians — their hunt of the buffalo. — Hunters' 
feast. — Trencher heroes. — Bullying of an absent 
foe. — The damp comrade. — The Indian spy. — 
Meeting with Hodgkiss — his adventures. — Poor- 
devil Indians. — Triumph of the Bannecks. — Black- 
feet policy in war 284 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Winter camp at the Portneuf. — Fine springs. — The 
Banneck Indians — their honesty. — Captain Bon- 
neville prepares for an expedition. — Christmas. — 
The American Falls. — Wild scenery. — Fishing 
Falls. — Snake Indians. — Scenery on the Bruneau. 

— View of volcanic country from a mountain. — 
Powder River. — Shoshokoes, or Root Diggers — 
their character, habits, habitations, dogs. — Vanity 

at its last shift 296 



CHAPTER XXX. 

Temperature of the climate. — Root Diggers on horse- 
back. — An Indian guide. — Mountain prospects. 

— The Grand Rond. — Difficulties on Snake River. 

— A scramble over the Blue Mountains. — Suffer- 
ings from hunger. — Prospect of the Immahah Val- 
ley. — The exhausted traveller .... 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



Progress in the valley. — An Indian cavalier. — The 
Captain falls into a lethargy. — A Nez Perc^ pa- 
triarch. — Hospitable treatment. — The bald head. 
— Bargaining. -- Value of an old plaid cloak. — 
The family horse. — The cost of an Indian present 320 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

Nez Perc^ camp. — A chief with a hard name. — The 
Big Hearts of the east. — Hospitable treatment. — 
The Indian guides. —Mysterious councils. — The 
loquacious chief. — Indian tomb. — Grand Indian 
reception. — An Indian feast. — Town criers. — 
Honesty of the Nez Perces.— The Captain's attempt 
at healing 329 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Scenery of the Way-lee-way. — A substitute for tobac- 
co. — Sublime scenery of Snake River. — The gar- 
rulous old chief and his cousin. —A Nez Perc^ 
meeting. — A stolen skin. — The scapegoat dog. — 
Mysterious conferences. — The little chief. — His 
hospitality. — The Captain's account of the United 
States. — His healing skill 34I 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Fort Wallah-TVallah — its commander. — Indians ia 
its neighborhood.— Exertions of Mr. Pambrune for 
their improvement. — Religion. — Code of laws. — 
Range of the Lower Nez Perces. — Camash, and 
other roots. — Nez Perc^ horses. — Preparations for 
departure. — Refusal of supplies. — Departure. — 
A laggard and glutton 353 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

The uninvited guest. — Free and easy manners. — Sal- 
utary jokes.— A prodigal son. — Exit of the glut- 



XIV CONTENTS. 



ton. — A sudden change in fortune. — Danger of a 
visit to poor relations. — Plucking of a prosperous 
man. — A vagabond toilet. — A substitute for the 
ver}' fine horse. — Hard travelling. — The uninvited 
guest and the patriarchal colt. — A beggar on horse- 
back. — A catastrophe. — Exit of the merry vaga- 
bond 360 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

The difficult mountain. — A smoke and consultation. — 
The Captain's speech. — An icy turnpike. — Danger 
of a false step. — Arrival on Snake River. — Return 
to Portneuf. — Meeting of comrades . . . 371 

CHAPTER XXX YH. 

Departure for the rendezvous. — A war part}-- of Black- 
feet. — A mock bustle. — Sham fires at night. — 
Warhke precautions. — Dangers of a night attack. 

— A panic among horses. — Cautious march. — 
The Beer Springs. — A mock carousal. — Skirmish- 
ing Avith buffaloes. — A buffalo bait. — Arrival at 

the rendezvous. — Meeting of various bands . . 379 

CHAPTER XXXVHI. 

Plan of the Salt Lake expedition. — Great sandy des- 
erts. — Sufferings from thirst. — Ogden's River. — 
Trails and smoke of lurking savages. — Thefts at 
night. — A trapper's revenge. — Alarms of a guilty 
conscience. — A murderous victory. — Californian 
mountains. — Plains along the Pacific. — Arrival at 
Monterey — account of the place and neighborhood. 

— Lower California — its extent. — The peninsula 

— soil — climate — production. — Its settlement by 
the Jesuits — their sway over the Indians — their 
expulsion. — Ruins of a Missionary establishment. 

— Sublime scenery. — Upper California. — Missions 



CONTENTS, 



XV 



— their power and policy. — Resources of the coun- 
try. — Designs of foreign nations .... 385 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Gay life at Monterey. — Mexican horsemen. — A bold 
dragoon. — Use of the lasso. — Vaqueros. — Noos- 
ing a bear. — Fight between a bull and a bear. — 
Departure from Monterey. —Indian horse-stealers. 

— Outrages committed by the travellers. — Indig- 
nation of Captain Bonneville 397 

CHAPTER XL. 

Travellers' tales.— Indian lurkers.— Prognostics of Buck- 
eye. — Signs and portents. — The medicine wolf. — 
An alarm. — An ambush. — The captured provant. 

— Triumph of Buckeye. — Arrival of supplies. — 
Grand carouse. —Arrangements for the year. — Mr. 
Wyeth and his new levied band .... 403 

CHAPTER XLI. 
A voyage in a bull boat 41O 

CHAPTER XLII. 

Departure of Captain Bonneville for the Columbia. — 
Advance of Wyeth. — Efforts to keep the lead. — 
Hudson's Bay party. — A junketing. — A delectable 
beverage. — Honey and alcohol. — High carousing. 

— The Canadian bon vivant. — A. cache.— A rapid 
move. — Wyeth and his plans. — His travelling 
companions. — Buflalo hunting.— More convivial- 
ity. — An interruption 432 

CHAPTER XLIII. 

A rapid march. — A cloud of dust. — Wild horsemen. — 
"High jinks." — Horse-racing and rifle shooting. 

— The game of " Hand." — The fishing season. — 



XVi CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Mode of fishing. — Table lands. — Salmon fishers. 

— The Captain's visit to an Indian lodge. — The In- 
dian girl. — The pocket mirror. — Supper. — Trou- 
bles of an evil conscience 440 

CHAPTER XLIV. 

Outfit of a trapper. — Risks to which he is subjected. — 
Partnership of trappers. — Enmity of Indians. — 
Distant smoke. — A country on fire. — Gun Creek. 

— Grand Rond. — Fine pastures. — Perplexities In 

a smoky countr}'. — Conflagration of forests . . 449 

CHAPTER XLV. 

The Skynses — their traffic —hmiting — food — horses. 

— A horse-race. — Devotional feelings of the 
Skynses, Nez Percys, and Flatheads. — Prayers. — 
Exhortations. — A preacher on horseback. — Efllect 
of religion on the manners of the tribes. — A new 
light 456 

CHAPTER XLVI. 

Scarcity in the camp. — Refusal of supplies by the Hud- 
son's Bay Company. — Conduct of the Indians. — 
A hungry retreat. — John Day's River. — The Blue 
Mountains. — Salmon fishing on Snake River. — 
Messengers from the Crow country. — Bear River 
Valley. — Immense migration of buffalo. — Danger 
of buffalo hunting. — A wounded Indian. — Eutaw 
Indians. — A " surround " of antelopes . . . 463 

CHAPTER XLVII. 

A festive winter. — Conversion of the Shoshonies. — Visit 
of two free trappers. — Gayety in the camp. — A 
touch of the tender passion.— The reclaimed squaw. 

— An Indian fine lady. —An elopement. — A pur- 
suit. — Market value of* a bad wife .... 473 



CONTENTS. xvii 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 



Breaking up of winter quarters. — Move to Green River. 

— A trapper and his rifle. — An arrival in camp. 

— A free trapper and his squaw in distress. — Story 

of a Blackfoot belle 480 

CHAPTER XLIX. 

A rendezvous at Wind River. — Campaign of Montero 
and his brigade in the Crow country. — Wars be- 
tween the Crows and Blackfeet. — Death of Ara- 
pooish. — Blackfeet lurkers. — Sagacity of the horse. 

— Dependence of the hunter on his horse. — Return 

to the settlements 487 

APPENDIX. 

Mr. Wyeth, and the trade of the Far West . . .497 
Wreck of a Japanese junk on the Northwest coast . 502 
Instructions to Captain Bonneville from the Major-Gen- 
eral commanding the Army of the United States . 502 

2 




INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 



Ji^^j^yillLE engaged in writing an account of 
K^V® ^^^® grand enterprise of Astoria, it was 
y^Mfe^ tny practice to seek all kinds of oral in- 
formation connected with the subject. Nowhere 
did I pick up more interesting particulars than at 
the table of Mr. John Jacob Astor ; who, being 
the patriarch of the Fur Trade in the United 
States, was accustomed to have at his board va- 
rious persons of adventurous turn, some of 
whom had been engaged in his own great under- 
taking ; others, on their own account, had made 
expeditions to the Rocky Mountains and the 
waters of the Columbia. 

Among these personages, one who peculiarly 
took my fancy, was Captain Bonneville, of tiie 
United States army; who, in a rambling kind of 
enterprise, had strangely ingrafted the trapper 
and hunter upon the soldier. As his expeditions 
and adventures will form the leading theme of 
the following pages, a few biographical particulars 
concerning him may not be unacceptable. 

Captain Bonneville is of French parentage. 
His father was a worthy old emigrant, who came 
to this country many years since, and took up his 



20 INTRODUCTORY NO TICE. 

abode in New York. He is represented as a 
man not much calculated for the sordid struggle 
of a money-making world, but possessed of a 
happy temperament, a festivity of imagination, 
and a simplicity of heart, that made him proof 
against its rubs and trials. He was an excellent 
scholar ; well acquainted with Latin and Greek, 
and fond of the modern classics. His book was 
his elysium ; once immersed in the pages of Vol- 
taire, Corneille, or Racine, or of his favorite Eng- 
glish author, Shakespeare, he forgot the world and 
all its concerns. Often would he be seen in sum- 
mer weather, seated under one of the trees on 
the Battery, or the portico of St. Paul's Church 
in Broadway, his bald head uncovered, his hat 
lying by his side, his eyes riveted to the page of 
his book, and his whole soul so engaged, as to 
lose all consciousness of the passing throng or 
the passing hour. 

Captain Bonneville, it will be found, inherited 
something of his father's bonhommie, and his ex- 
citable imagination ; though the latter was some- 
what disciplined in early years, by mathematical 
studies. He was educated at our national mili- 
tary Academy at West Point, where he acquitted 
himself very creditably; thence, he entered the 
army, in which he has ever since continued. 

The nature of our military service took him to 
the frontier, where, for a number of years, he 
was stationed at various posts in the Far West. 
Here he was brought into frequent intercourse 
with Indian traders, mountain trappers, and other 
pioneers of the wilderness ; and became so excited 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 21 

by their tales of wild scenes and wild adventures, 
and their accounts of vast and magnificent re- 
gions as yet unexplored, that an expedition to the 
Rocky Mountains became the ardent desire of his 
heart, and an enterprise to explore untrodden 
tracts, the leading object of his ambition. 

By degrees he shaped this vague day-dream 
into a practical reality. Having made himself 
acquainted with all the requisites for a trading 
enterprise beyond the mountains, he determined 
to undertake it. A leave of absence, and a sanc- 
tion of his expedition, was obtained from the 
major-general in chief, on his offering to combine 
public utility with his private projects, and to 
collect statistical information for the War Depart- 
ment, concerning the wild countries and wild 
tribes he might visit in the course of his journey- 
ings. 

Nothing now was wanting to the darling pro- 
ject of the captain, but the ways and means. 
The expedition would require an outfit of many 
thousand dollars ; a staggering obstacle to a sol- 
dier, whose capital is seldom anything more than 
his sword. Full of that buoyant hope, however, 
which belongs to the sanguine temperament, he 
repaired to New York, the great focus of Ameri- 
can enterprise, where there are always funds 
ready for any scheme, however chimerical or ro- 
mantic. Here he had the good fortune to meet 
with a gentleman of high respectability and in- 
fluence, who had been his associate in boyhood, 
and who cherished a school-fellow friendsiiip for 
him. He took a general interest in the scheme 



22 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 

of the captain ; introduced him to commercial 
men of his acquaintance, and in a little while an 
association was formed, and the necessary funds 
were raised to carry the proposed measure into 
effect. One of the most efficient persons in this 
association was Mr. Alfred Seton, who, when quite 
a youth, had accompanied one of the expeditions 
sent out by JNIr. Astor to his commercial estab- 
lishments on the Columbia, and had distinguished 
himself by his activity and courage at one of the 
interior posts. Mr. Seton was one of the Amer- 
ican youths who were at Astoria at the time of 
its surrender to the British, and who manifested 
such grief and indignation at seeing the flag of 
their country hauled down. The hope of seeing 
that flag once more planted on the shores of the 
Columbia, may have entered into his motives for 
engaging in the present enterprise. 

Thus backed and provided, Captain Bonneville 
undertook his expedition into the Far West, and 
was soon beyond the Rocky Mountains. Year 
after year elapsed without his return. The term 
of his leave of absence expired, yet no report was 
made of him at head-quarters at Washington. 
He was considered virtually dead or lost, and his 
name was stricken from the army list. 

It was in the autumn of 1835, at the country 
seat of Mr. John Jacob Astor, at Hellgate, that I 
first met with Captain Bonneville.* He was then 
just returned from a residence of upwards of 
three years among the mountains, and was on 
his way to report himself at head-quarters, in the 
hopes of being reinstated in the service. From 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 23 

all that I could learn, his wanderings in the wil- 
derness, though they had gratified his curiosity 
and his love of adventure, had not much bene- 
fited his fortunes. Like Corporal Trim in his 
campaigns, he had " satisfied the sentiment," and 
that was all. In fact, he was too much of the 
frank, free-hearted soldier, and had inherited too 
much of his father's temperament, to make a 
scheming trapper, or a thrifty bargainer. There 
was something in the whole appearance of the 
captain that prepossessed me in his favor. He 
was of the middle size, well made and well set ; 
and a military frock of foreign cut, that had seen 
service, gave him a look of compactness. His 
countenance was frank, open, and engaging ; well 
browned by the sun, and had something of a 
French expression. He had a pleasant black eye, 
a high forehead, and while he kept his hat on, 
the look of a man in the jocund prime of his 
days ; but the moment his head was uncovered, a 
bald crown gained him credit for a few more 
years than he was really entitled to. 

Being extremely curious, at the time, about 
everything connected with the Far West, I ad- 
dressed numerous questions to him. They drew 
from him a number of extremely striking details, 
which were given with mingled modesty and 
frankness ; and in a gentleness of manner, and a 
soft tone of voice, contrasting singularly with the 
wild and often startling nature of his themes. 
It was difiicult to conceive the mild, quiet-looking 
personage before you, the actual hero of the stir- 
ring scenes related. 

In the course of three or four months, hap- 



24 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 

pening to be at the city of Washington, I again 
came upon the captain, who was attending the 
slow adjustment of his affairs with the War De- 
partment. I found him quartered with a worthy 
brother in arms, a major in the army. Here he 
was writing at a table, covered with maps and 
papers, in the centre of a large barrack room, 
fancifully decorated with Indian arms, and tro- 
phies, and war dresses, and the skins of various 
wild animals, and hung round wdth pictures of 
Indian games and ceremonies, and scenes of war 
and hunting. In a word, the captain was beguil- 
ing the tediousness of attendance at court, by an 
attempt at authorship ; and was rewriting and 
extending his travelling notes, and making maps 
of the regions he had explored. As he sat at 
the table, in this curious apartment, with his 
high bald head of somewhat foreign cast, he re- 
minded me of some of those antique pictures of 
authors that I have seen in old Spanish volumes. 

The result of his labors was a mass of manu- 
script, which he subsequently put at my disposal, 
to fit it for publication and bring it before the 
vi^orld. I found it full of interesting details of 
life among the mountains, and of the singular 
castes and races, both white men and red men, 
among whom he had sojourned. It bore, too, 
throughout, the impi-ess of his character, his hon- 
hommie, his kindliness of spirit, and his suscep- 
tibility to the grand and beautiful. 

That manuscript has formed the staple of the 
following work. I have occasionally interwoven 
facts and details, gathered from various sources, 
especially from the conversations and journals of 



INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 25 

some of the captain's contemporaries, who were 
actors in the- scenes he describes. I have also 
given it a tone and coloring drawn from my own 
observation, during an excursion into the Indian 
country bejond the bounds of civilization ; as I 
before observed, however, the work is substan- 
tially the narrative of the worthy captain, and 
many of its most graphic passages are but little 
varied from his, own language. 

I shall conclude this notice by a dedication 
which he had made of his manuscript to his hos- 
pitable brother in arms, in whose quarters I found 
him occupied in his literary labors ; it is a ded- 
ication which, I believe, possesses the qualities, 
not always found in complimentary documents of 
the kind, of being sincere, and being merited. 

TO 

JAMES HARVEY HOOK, 

MAJOR, 0. S. A. 

WHOSE JEALOUSY OF ITS HONOR, 

WHOSE ANXIETY FOB ITS INTERESTS, 

AND 

WHOSE SENSIBILITY FOB ITS WANTS, 

HAVE ENDEARED HIM TO THE SERVICE AS 

AND WHOSE GENERAL AMENITY, CONSTANT CHEERFULNESS, 

DISINTERESTED HOSPITALITY, AND UNWEARIED 

BENEVOLENCE, ENTITLE HIM TO THE 

STILL LOFTIER TITLE OF 

THE FRIEND OF MAN, 

THIS WORK IS INSCRIBED, 
ETC. 

New- York, 1843. 




L^^ 



^>^ 






^? 



ADVENTURES 

OF 

CAPTAIN BONNEVILLE, 



CHAPTER I. 

State of the fur trade of the Rocky Mountains. — American 
enterprises. — General Ashley and his associates. — Sub- 
lette, a famous leader. — Yearly rendezvous among the 
mountains. — Stratagems and dangers of the trade. — Bands 
of trappers. — Indian banditti. — Crows and Blackfeet. — 
Mountaineers. — Traders of the Far West. — Character and 
habits of the trapper. 

,N a recent work we have given an ac- 
count of the grand enterprise of Mr. 
John Jacob Astor, to establish an Amer- 
ican emporium for the fur trade at the mouth of 
the Cohimbia, or Oregon River ; of the ftiilure of 
that enterprise through the capture of Astoria by 
the British, in 1814; and of the way in which 
the control of the trade of the Columbia and its 
dependencies fell into the hands of the North-west 
Company. "We have stated, likewise, the unfortu- 
nate supineness of the American government, in 
neglecting the application of INIr. Astor for the 




28 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

protection of the American flag, and a small mili- 
tary force, to enable liim to reinstate himself in the 
possession of Astoria at the return of peace ; when 
the post was formally given up by the British gov- 
ernment, though still occupied by the North-west 
Company. By that supineness the sovereignty in 
the country has been virtually lost to the United 
States ; and it will cost both governments much 
trouble and difficulty to settle matters on that just 
and rightful footing, on which they would readily 
have been jDlaced, had the proposition of Mr. Astor 
been attended to. We shall now state a few par- 
ticulars of subsequent events, so as to lead the 
reader up to the jDeriod of which we are about 
to treat, and to prepare him for the circumstances 
of our narrative. 

In consequence of the apathy and neglect of 
the American government, Mr. Astor abandoned 
all thoughts of regaining Astoria, and made no 
further attempt to extend his enterprises beyond 
the Rocky Mountains ; and the North-west Com- 
pany considered themselves the lords of the coun- 
try. They did not long enjoy unmolested the 
sway wliich they had somewhat surreptitiously 
attained. A fierce competition ensued between 
them and theu' old rivals, the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany ; which was carried on at great cost and 
sacrifice, and occasionally with the loss of life. 
It ended in the ruin of most of the jDartners of 
the North-west Company ; and the merging of the 
relics of that estabhshment, in 1821, in the rival 
association. From that time, the Hudson's Bay 
Company enjoyed a monopoly of the Lidian trade 



CHECK TO AMERICAN ENTERPRISE. 29 

from the coast of the Pacific to the Rocky Moun- 
tains, and for a considerable extent north and 
south. They removed their emporium from As- 
toria to Fort Vancouver, a strong post on the left 
bank of the Columbia River, about sixty miles 
from its mouth ; whence they furnished their in- 
terior posts, and sent forth their brigades of trap- 
pers. 

The Rocky Mountains formed a vast barrier 
between them and the United States, and their 
stern and awful defiles, their rugged valleys, and 
the great western plains watered by their rivers, 
remained almost a terra incognita to the American 
trapper. The difficulties experienced in 1808, by 
Mr. Henry of the Missouri Company, the first 
American who trapped upon the head- waters of 
the Columbia ; and the frightful hardships sus- 
tained by Wilson P. Hunt, Ramsay Crooks, 
Robert Stuart, and other intrepid Astorians, in 
their ill-fated expeditions across the mountains, 
appeared for a time to check all further enterprise 
in that direction. The American traders contented 
themselves with following up the head branches 
of the Missouri, the Yellowstone, and other rivers 
and streams on the Atlantic side of the moun- 
tains, but forbore to attempt those great snow- 
crowned sierras. 

One of the first to revive these tramontane ex- 
peditions was General Asliley, of Missouri, a man 
whose courage and achievements in the prosecution 
of his enterprises, have rendered him fimious in 
the Far West. In conjunction with Mr. Henry, 
already mentioned, he established a post on the 



30 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

banks of the Yellowstone River, in 1822, and in 
the followmg year pushed a resolute band of trap- 
pers across the mountains to the banks of the 
Green River or Colorado of the West, often 
known by the Indian name of the Seeds-ke-dee 
Agie.-^ This attempt was followed up and sus- 
tained by others, until in 1825 a footing was se- 
cured, and a complete system of trapping organized 
beyond the mountains. 

It is difficult to do justice to the courage, for- 
titude, and perseverance of the pioneers of the fur 
trade, who conducted these early expeditions, and 
first broke their way through a wilderness w^here 
everything was calculated to deter and dismay 
them. They had to traverse the most dreary 
and desolate mountains, and barren and trackless 
wastes, uninhabited by man, or occasionally in- 
fested by predatory and cruel savages. They knew 
nothing of the country beyond the verge of their 
horizon, and had to gather mformation as they 
wandered. They beheld volcanic j^lains stretching 
around them, and ranges of mountains piled up 
to the clouds, and glistening with eternal frost : but 
knew nothing of their defiles, nor how they were to 
be penetrated or traversed. They launched them- 
selves in frail canoes on rivers, without knowing 
whither their swift currents would carry them, or 
what rocks, and shoals, and rapids, they might en- 
counter in their course. They had to be contin- 
ually on the alert, too, against the mountain tribes, 
who beset every defile, laid ambuscades in their 

1 t. e. The Prairie Hen River. Agie in the Crow language 
signifies river. 



SVBLETTE. 31 

path, or attacked them in their night encamp- 
ments ; so that, of the hardy bands of trappers 
that first entered into these regions, three fifths 
are said to have fallen by the hands of savage 
foes. 

In this wild and warlike school a number of 
leaders have sprung up, originally in the employ, 
subsequently partners of Asliley ; among these 
we may mention Smith, Fitzpatrick, Bridger, 
Robert Campbell, and William Sublette ; whose 
adventures and exploits partake of the wildest 
spirit of romance. The association commenced 
by General Ashley underwent various modifica- 
tions. That gentleman having acquu'ed sufficient 
fortune, sold out his mterest and retired ; and the 
leading spirit that succeeded him was Captain 
William Sublette ; a man worthy of note, as liis 
name has become renowned in frontier story. He , / 
is a native of Kentucky, and of game descent ; ^ 
his maternal grandfather. Colonel "WTieatley, a 
companion of Boon, having been one of the 
pioneers of the West, celebrated in Indian war- 
fare, and killed in one of the contests of the 
" Bloody Ground." We shall frequently have 
occasion to speak of this Sublette, and always to 
the credit of his game qualities. In 1830, the 
association took the name of the Rocky Moun- 
tain Fur Company, of which Captain Sublette 
and Robei't Campbell were prominent members. 

In the meantime, the success of this company 
attracted the attention and excited the emulation 
of the American Fur Company, and brought them 
once more into the field of then- ancient enterprise. 



32 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

Mr. Astor, the founder of the association, had re- 
tired from busy life, and the concerns of the com- 
pany were ably managed by Mr. Ramsay Crooks, 
of Snake River reno\vn, who still officiates as its 
president. A competition immediately ensued 
between the two companies, for the trade with the 
mountain tribes, and the trapping of the head- 
waters of the Columbia, and the other great trib- 
utaries of the Pacific. Beside the regular ope- 
rations of these formidable rivals, there have been 
from time to time desultory enterprises, or rather 
experiments, of minor associations, or of adven- 
turous individuals, beside roving bands of independ- 
ent trappers, who either hunt for themselves, or 
engage for a single season, in the service of one 
or other of the main companies. 

The consequence is, that the Rocky Mountains 
and the ulterior regions, from the Russian pos- 
sessions in the north, down to the Spanish settle- 
ments of California, have been traversed and ran- 
sacked in every direction by bands of hunters 
^ and Indian traders ; so that there is scarcely a 
mountain pass, or defile, that is not known and 
threaded in their restless migrations, nor a name- 
less stream that is not haunted by the lonely trap- 
per. 

The American fur companies keep no estab- 
lished post beyond the mountains. Everything 
there is regulated by resident partners ; that is to 
^ say, partners who reside in the tramontane coun- 
try, but who move about from place to place, 
either with Indian tribes, whose traffic they wish 
to monopolize, or with main bodies of their own 



YEARLY RENDEZVOUS. 33 

men, whom they employ in trading and trapping. 
In the mean time, they detach bands, or " brigades" 
as they are termed, of trappers in various direc- 
tions, assigning to each a portion of country as a 
hunting, or traj^ping ground. In the months of 
June and July, when there is an interval between 
the hunting seasons, a general rendezvous is held, 
at some designated place in the mountains, where 
the affairs of the past year are settled by the res- 
ident partners, and the plans for the following 
year arranged. 

To this rendezvous repair the various brigades 
of trappers from their widely separated hunting 
grounds, bringing in the products of their year's 
campaign. Hither also repair the Indian tribes 
accustomed to traffic their peltries with the com- 
pany. Bands of free trappers resort hither also, 
to sell the furs they have collected ; or to engage 
their services for the next hunting season. 

To this rendezvous the company sends annually 
a convoy of supplies from its establishment on 
the Atlantic frontier, under the guidance of some 
experienced partner or officer. On the arrival 
of this convoy, the resident partner at the rendez- 
vous depends, to set all his next year's machinery 
in motion. 

Now as the rival companies keep a vigilant eye 
upon each other, and are anxious to discover each 
other's plans and movements, they generally con- 
trive to hold their annual assemblages at no great 
distance apart. An eager competition exists also 
between their respective convoys of supplies, which 
shall first reach its place of rendezvous. For this 
3 



34 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

purpose, they set off with the first appearance of 
grass on the Atlantic frontier, and push with all 
diligence for the mountains. The company that 
can first open its tempting supplies of coffee, to- 
bacco, ammunition, scarlet cloth, blankets, bright 
shawls, and glittering trinkets, has the greatest 
chance to get all the peltries and furs of the In- 
dians and free trappers, and to engage their ser- 
vices for the next season. It is able, also, to fit 
out and dispatch its own trappers the soonest, so 
as to get the start of its competitors, and to have 
the first dash into the hunting and trapping 
grounds. 

A new species of strategy has sprung out of 
this hunting and trapping competition. The con- 
stant study of the rival bands is to forestall and 
outwit each other ; to supplant each other in the 
good-will and custom of the Indian tribes ; to cross 
each other's plans ; to mislead each other as to 
routes ; in a word, next to his own advantage, the 
study of the Indian trader is the disadvantage of 
his competitor. 

The influx of this wandering trade has had its 
effects on the habits of the mountain tribes. They 
have found the trapping of the beaver their most 
profitable species of hunting ; and the traffic with 
the white man has opened to them sources of 
luxury of which they previously had no idea. 
The introduction of fire-arms has rendered them 
more successful hunters, but at the same time more 
formidable foes ; some of them, incorrigibly savage 
and warlike in their nature, have found the ex- 
peditions of the fur traders grand objects of prof- 



DANGERS OF THE TRADE. 35 

itable adventure. To waylay and harass a band 
of trappers with their pack-horses, when embar- 
rassed in the rugged defiles of the mountains, has 
become as favorite an exploit with these Indians 
as the plunder of a caravan to the Arab of the 
desert. The Crows and Blackfeet, who were such 
terrors in the path of the early adventurers to 
Astoria, still continue their predatory habits, but 
seem to have brought them to greater system. 
They know the routes and resorts of the trappers ; 
where to waylay them on their journeys ; where 
to find them in the hunting seasons, and where to 
hover about them in whiter quarters. The life of a 
trapper, therefore, is a perpetual state militant, 
and he must sleep with his weapons in his hands. 

A new order of trappers and traders, also, have 
grown out of tliis system of tlimgs. In the old 
thues of the great North-west Company, when the 
trade in furs was pursued chiefly about the lakes 
and rivers, the expeditions were carried on in bat- 
teaux and canoes. The voyageurs or boatmen 
were the rank and file in the service of the trader, 
and even the hardy " men of the north," those 
great rufflers and game bu'ds, were fain to be pad- 
dled from point to point of their migrations 

A totally different class has now sprung up ; — 
" the Mountaineers," the traders and trappers 
that scale the vast mountain chains, and pursue 
their hazardous vocations amidst their wild recesses. 
They move from place to place on horseback. 
The equestrian exercises, therefore, in which they 
are engaged, the nature of the countries they trav- 
erse, vast plains and mountains, pure and ex- 



'36 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

hilaratmg in atmospheric qualities, seem to make 
them physically and mentally a more Hvely and 
mercurial race than the fur traders and trappers 
of former days, the self-vaunting " men of the 
north." A man who bestrides a horse, must be 
essentially different from a man who cowers in a 
canoe. We find them, accordingly, hardy, lithe, 
vigorous, and active ; extravagant in word, in 
thought, and deed ; heedless of hardsliip ; daring 
of danger ; prodigal of the present, and thought- 
less of the future. 

A difference is to be perceived even between 
these mountain hunters and those of the lower 
regions along the waters of the INIissouri. The 
latter, generally French Creoles, live comfortably 
in cabins and log-huts, well sheltered from the in- 
clemencies of the seasons. They are within the 
reach of frequent supplies from the settlements ; 
their life is comparatively free from danger, and 
from most of the vicissitudes of the upper wilder- 
ness. The consequence is, that they are less 
hardy, self-dependent and game-spirited, than the 
mountaineer. If the latter by chance comes among 
them on his way to and from the settlements, he 
is like a game-cock among the common roosters 
of the poultry-yard. Accustomed to live in tents, 
or to bivouac in the open air, he despises the com- 
forts and is impatient of the confinement of the 
log-house. If his meal is not ready in season, he 
takes his rifle, hies to the forest or prairie, shoots 
his own game, lights his fire, and cooks his repast. 
With his horse and his rifle, he is independent of 
tlie world, and spurns at all its restraints. The 



CHARACTER OF THE TRAPPER. 37 

very superintendents at the lower posts will not 
put him to mess with the common men, the hire- 
lings of the establishment, but treat him as some- 
thing superior. 

There is, perhaps, no class of men on the face 
of the earth, says Captain Bonneville, who lead a 
life of more continued exertion, peril, and excite- 
ment, and who are more enamored of their oc- 
cupations, than the free trappers of the West. 
No toil, no danger, no privation can turn the trap- 
per from his pursuit. His passionate excitement 
at times resembles a mania. In vain may the 
most vigilant and cruel savages beset his path ; in 
vain may rocks, and precipices, and wintry torrents 
oppose his progress ; let but a single track of a 
beaver meet his eye, and he forgets all dangers 
and defies all difficulties. At times, he may be 
seen with his traps on his shoulder, buffeting his 
way across rapid streams, amidst floating blocks 
of ice : at other times, he is to be found with his 
traps swung on his back clambering the most rug- 
ged mountains, scaling or descending the most 
frightful precipices, searching, by routes inacces- 
sible to the horse, and never before trodden by 
white man, for springs and lakes unknown to his 
comrades, and where he may meet with his favor- 
ite game. Such is the mountaineer, the hardy trap- 
per of the West ; and such, as we have slightly 
sketched it, is the wild, Robin Hood kind of life, 
with all its strange and motley populace, now ex- 
isting in full vigor among the Rocky Mountains. 

Having thus given the reader some idea of the 
actual state of the fur trade in the interior of our 



38 



B ONNE VILLE' S AD VENTURES. 



vast continent, and made him acquainted with the 
wild chivalry of the mountains, we will no longer 
delay the introduction of Captain Bonneville and 
his band into this field of their enterprise, but 
launch them at once upon the perilous plains of 
the Far West. 




CHAPTER 11. 

Departure from Fort Osage. — INfodes of transportation. — 
Pack-horses. — Wagons. — Walker and Cerre; their char- 
acters. — Buoyant feelings on launching upon the Prai- 
ries. — Wild equipments of the trappers. — Their gambols 
and antics. — Difference of character between the American 
and French trappers. — Agency of the Kansas. — General 
Clarke. — White Plume, the Kansas Chief. — Night scene 
in a trader's camp. — Colloquy between White Plume and 
the Captain. — Bee-hunters. — Their expeditions. — Their 
feuds with the Indians. — Bargaining talent of White 
Plume. 

]T was on the first of May, 1832, that 
Captain Bonneville took his departure 
from the frontier post of Fort Osage, on 
the ^lissouri. He had enlisted a party of one 
hundred and ten men, most of whom had been in 
the Indian country, and some of whom were ex- 
perienced hunters and trappers. Fort Osage, and 
other places on the borders of the western wilder- 
ness, abound with characters of the kind, ready 
for any expedition. 

The ordinary mode of transportation in these 
great inland expeditions of the fur traders is on 
mules and pack-horses ; but Captain Bonneville 
substituted wagons. Though he was to travel 
through a trackless wilderness, yet the greater 
part of his route would lie across open plains, des- 




40 B ONNE VJLLE'S AD VENTURES. 

titute of forests, and where wheel carriages can 
pass in every direction. The chief difficulty occurs 
in passing the deep ravines cut through the prai- 
ries b}^ streams and winter torrents. Here it is 
often necessary to dig a road down the banks, 
and to make bridges for the wagons. 

In transporting his baggage in vehicles of this 
kind, Captain Bonneville thought he would save 
the great delay caused every morning by packing 
the horses, and the labor of unpackuig in the even- 
ing. Fewer horses also would be required, and 
less risk mcurred of their wandering away, or 
being frightened or carried off by the Indians. 
The wagons, also, would be more easily defended, 
and might form a kind of fortification in case of 
attack in the open prairies. A train of twenty 
wagons, drawn by oxen, or by four mules or horses 
each, and laden with merchandise, ammunition, and 
provisions, were disposed in two columns in the 
centre of the party, which was equally divided 
into a van and a rear-guard. As sub-leaders or 
lieutenants in his expedition. Captain Bonneville 
had made choice of Mr. I. R. Walker and Mr. M. 
S. Cerre. The former was a native of Tennessee, 
about six feet high, strong built, dark complexioned, 
brave in spirit, though mild in manners. He had 
resided for many years in Missouri, on the frontier ; 
had been among the earliest adventurers to Santa 
Fe, where he went to trap beaver, and was taken 
by the Spaniards. Being liberated, he engaged 
with the Spaniards and Sioux Indians in a war 
against the Pawnees ; then returned to Missouri, 
and had acted by turns as sheriff, trader, trapper, 



LAUNCHING OUT ON THE PRAIRIES. 41 

until he was enlisted as a leader by Captain 
Bonneville. 

Cerre, liis other leader, had likewise been in 
expeditions to Santa Fe, in which he had endured 
much hardship. He was of the middle size, light 
complexioned, and though but about twenty-live 
years of age, was considered an experienced In- 
dian trader. It was a great object with Captain 
Bonneville to set to the mountains before the 
summer heats and summer flies should render the 
travelling across the prairies distressing ; and 
before the annual assemblages of people connected 
with the fur trade, should have broken up, and 
dispersed to the huntmg grounds. 

The two rival associations already mentioned, 
the American Fur Company and the Rocky Moun- 
tam Fur Company, had their several places of 
rendezvous for the present year at no great dis- 
tance apart, in Pierre's Hole, a deep valley in the 
heart of the mountains, and thither Captain Bon- 
neville intended to shape his course. 

It is not easy to do justice to the exulting feel- 
ings of the worthy captain, at finding himself at 
the head of a stout band of hunters, trappers, and 
woodmen ; fairly launched on the broad prairies, 
with his face to the boundless West. The tamest 
mhabitant of cities, the veriest spoiled child of 
civilization, feels his heart dilate and his pulse beat 
high, on finding himself on horseback in the glo- 
rious wilderness ; what then must be the excitement 
of one whose imagination had been stimulated by 
a residence on the frontier, and to whom the 
wilderness was a region of romance ! 



42 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

His hardy followers partook of his excitement. 
Most of them had already experienced the wild 
freedom of savage life, and looked forward to a 
renewal of past scenes of adventure and exploit. 
Their very appearance and equipment exhi- 
bited a piebald mixture, half civilized and half 
savage. Many of them looked more like Indians 
than white men, in their garbs and accoutre- 
ments, and their very horses were caparis- 
oned in barbaric style, with fantastic trappings. 
The outset of a band of adventurers on one of 
these expeditions is always animated and joyous. 
The welkin rang with their shouts and yelps, after 
the manner of the savages ; and with boisterous 
jokes and light-hearted laughter. As they passed 
the straggling hamlets and solitary cabins that 
fringe the skirts of the frontier, they would startle 
their inmates by Indian yells and war-whoops, or 
regale them with grotesque feats of horsemanship, 
well suited to theii' half savage appearance. Most 
of these abodes were inhabited by men who had 
themselves been in similar expeditions ; they wel- 
comed the travellers, therefore, as brother trappers, 
treated them with a hunter's hospitality, and 
cheered them with an honest God speed, at parting. 

And here we would remark a great difference, 
in point of character and quality, between the two 
classes of trappers, the " American" and " French," 
as they are called in contradistinction. The latter 
is meant to designate the French Creole of Canada 
or Louisiana ; the former, the trapper of the old 
American stock, from Kentucky, Tennessee, and 
others of the Western States. The French trap- 



THE AMERICAN TRAPPER. 43 

per is represented as a lighter, softer, more self- 
indulgent kind of man. He must have his Indian 
wife, his lodge, and his petty conveniences. He 
is gay and thoughtless, takes little heed of land- 
marks, depends upon his leaders and companions 
to think for the common weal, and, if left to him- 
self, is easily perplexed and lost. 

The American trapper stands by himself, and 
is peerless for the service of the wilderness. Drop 
him in the midst of a prairie, or in the heart of 
the mountains, and he is never at a loss. He 
notices every landmark ; can retrace liis route 
through the most monotonous plains, or the most 
perplexed labyrinths of the mountains ; no danger 
nor difficulty can apjmll him, and he scorns to com- 
plain under any privation. In equipping the two 
kinds of trappers, the Creole and Canadian are 
apt to prefer the light fusee ; the American always 
grasj^s his rifle ; he despises what he calls the " shot- 
gun." We give these estimates on the authority 
of a trader of long experience, and a foreigner 
by birth. " I consider one American," said he, 
" equal to three Canadians in point of sagacity, 
aptness at resources, self-dependence, and fearless- 
ness of spirit. In fact, no one can cope with him 
as a stark tramper of the wilderness." 

Beside the two classes of trappers just men- 
tioned, Captain Bonneville had enlisted several 
Delaware Indians in his employ, on whose hunt 
ing qualifications he placed great reliance. 

On the 0th of May the travellers passed the 
last border habitation, and bade a long flirewell 
to the ease and security of civilization. The buoy- 



44 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

ant and clamorous spirits with which they had 
commenced their march, gradually subsided as 
they entered upon its difficulties. They found 
the jDrairies saturated with the heavy cold rains, 
prevalent in certain seasons of the year in this 
part of the country, the wagon wheels sank deep 
in the mire, the horses were often to the fetlock, 
and both steed and rider were comj^letely jaded 
by the evening of the 12th, when they reached 
the Kansas River ; a fine stream about tliree 
hundred yards wide, entering the Missouri from 
the south. Though fordable in almost every part 
at the end of summer and during the autumn, 
yet it was necessary to construct a raft for the 
transportation of the wagons and effects. All 
this was done m the course of the following day, 
and by evening, the whole party arrived at the 
agency of the Kansas tribe. This was under the 
superintendence of General Clarke, brother of the 
\\ celebrated traveller of the same name, who, with 
Lewis, made the first expedition down the waters 
of the Columbia. He was living like a patriarch, 
surrounded by laborers and interpreters, all 
snugly housed, and provided with excellent 
farms. The functionary next in consequence to 
the agent was the blacksmith, a most important, 
and, indeed, indispensable personage in a frontier 
community. The Kansas resemble the Osages in 
features, di-ess, and language ; they raise corn and 
hunt the bufialo, ranging the Kansas River, and 
its tributary streams ; at the time of the captain's 
visit, they were at war with the Pawnees of the 
Nebraska, or Platte River. 



WHITE PLUME. 45 

The unusual sight of a train of wagons, caused 
quite a sensation among these savages ; who 
thronged about the caravan, examining every 
thing minutely, and asking a thousand questions : 
exhibiting a degree of excitability, and a lively 
curiosity, totally opposite to that apathy with 
which their race is so often reproached. 

The personage who most attracted the cap- 
tain's attention at this place, was " Wliite Plume," 
the Kansas chief, and they soon became good 
friends. White Plume (we are pleased with his 
chivalrous soubriquet) inhabited a large stone 
house, built for him by order of the American 
government : but the establishment had not been 
carried out in corresponding style. It might be 
palace without, but it was wigwam within ; so 
that, between the stateliness of his mansion, and 
the squalidness of his furniture, the gallant ^Miite 
Plume presented some such whimsical incongruity 
as we see in the gala equipments of an Indian 
chief, on a treaty-making embassy at Washington, 
who has been generously decked out in cocked hat 
and military coat, in contrast to his breech-clout 
and leathern leggings ; being grand officer at top, 
and ragged Indian at bottom. 

Wliite Plume was so taken with the courtesy 
of the captain, and pleased with one or two pres- 
ents received from him, that he accompanied him 
a day's journey on his march, and passed a night 
in his camp, on the margin of a small stream. 
The method of encamping generally observed by 
the captain, was as follows : The twenty wagons 
were disposed in a square, at the distance of 



4^ B ONNE VILLE' S AD VEIS T URES. 

thirty-three feet from each other. In every inter- 
val there was a mess stationed ; and each mess 
had its fire, where the men cooked, ate, gossiped, 
and slept. The horses were placed in the centre 
of the square, with a guard stationed over them 
at night. 

The horses were " side-lined," as it is termed : 
that is to say the fore and hind foot on the same 
side of the animal were tied together, so as to be 
within eighteen inches of each other. A horse 
thus fettered is for a time sadly embarrassed, but 
soon becomes sufficiently accustomed to the re- 
straint to move about slowly. It prevents his 
wandering; and his being easily carried off at 
night by lurking Indians. When a horse that is 
" foot free," is tied to one thus secured, the latter 
forms, as it were, a pivot, round wliich the other 
runs and curvets, in case of alarm. 

The encampment of which we are speaking, 
presented a striking scene. The various mess- 
fires were surrounded by picturesque groups, 
standing, sitting, and reclining ; some busied in 
cooking, others in cleanmg their weapons : while 
the frequent laugh told that the rough joke, or 
merry story was going on. In the middle of the 
camp, before the principal lodge, sat the two 
chieftains. Captain Bonneville and White Plume, 
in soldier-like communion, the captain delighted 
with the opportunity of meeting, on social terms, 
with one of the red warriors of the wilderness, 
the unsophisticated children of nature. The 
latter was squatted on his buffalo robe, his strong 
features and red skin glaring in the broad light 



BEE HUNTERS. 47 

of a blazing fire, while he recounted astounding 
tales of the bloody exploits of his tribe and him- 
self, in their wars with the Pawnees ; for there 
are no old soldiers more given to long campaign- 
ing stories, than Indian "braves." 

The feuds of White Plume, however, had not 
been confined to the red men ; he had much to 
say of brushes with bee hunters, a class of offend- 
ers for whom he seemed to cherish a particular 
abhorrence. As the species of hunting prose- 
cuted by these worthies is not laid down in any 
of the ancient books of venerie, and is, in. fact, 
peculiar to our western frontier, a word or two 
on the subject may not be unacceptable to the 
reader. 

The bee hunter is generally some settler on 
the verge of the prairie ; a long, lank fellow, of 
fever and ague complexion, acquired from living 
on new soil, and in a hut built of green logs. In 
the autumn, when the harvest is over, these fron- 
tier settlers form parties of two or three, and 
prepare for a bee hunt. Having provided them- 
selves with a wagon, and a number of empty 
casks, they sally off, armed with their rifles, into 
the wilderness, directing their course east, west, 
north, or south, without any regard to the ordi- 
nance of the American government, which strictly 
forbids all trespass upon the lands belonging to 
the Indian tribes. 

The belts of woodland that traverse the lower 
prairies, and border the rivers, are peopled by 
innumerable swarms of wild bees, which make 
their hives in hollow trees, and fill them with 



48 BONNEVILLE S ADVENTURES. 

honey tolled from the rich flowers of the prairies. 
The bees, according to popular assertion, are 
migrating, like the settlers, to the west. An 
Indian trader, well experienced in the country, 
informs us that within ten years that he has 
passed in the Far West, the bee has advanced 
westward above a hundred miles. It is said on 
the Missouri, that the wild turkey and the wild 
bee go up the river together : neither are found 
in the upj^er regions. It is but recently that the 
wild turkey has been killed on the Nebraska, or 
Platte ; and his travelling competitor, the wild 
bee, appeared there about the same time. 

Be all this as it may : the course of our party 
of bee hunters, is to make a wide circuit through 
the woody river bottoms, and the patches of forest 
on the prairies, marking, as they go out, every 
tree in which they have detected a hive. These 
marks are generally respected by any other bee 
hunter that should come upon their track. When 
they have marked sufficient to fill all their casks, 
they turn their faces homeward, cut down the 
trees as they proceed, and having loaded their 
wagon with honey and wax, return well pleased 
to the settlements. 

Now it so happens that the Indians relish wild 
honey as highly as do the white men, and are the 
more delighted with this natural luxury from its 
having, in many instances, but recently made its 
appearance in their lands. The consequence is, 
numberless disputes and conflicts between them 
and the bee hunters : and often a party of the 
latter, returning, laden with rich spoil, from one 



TRADING TALENT OF WHITE PLUME. 49 

of their forays, are apt to be waylaid by the na- 
tive lords of the soil ; their honey to be seized, 
their harness cut to pieces, and themselves left to 
find their way home the best way they can, happy 
to escape with no greater personal harm than a 
sound rib-roasting. 

Such were the marauders of whose offenses 
the gallant White Plume made the most bitter 
complaint. They were chiefly the settlers of the 
western part of Missouri, who are the most famous 
bee hunters on the frontier, and whose favorite 
hunting ground lies within the lands of the 
Kansas tribe. Accordmg to the account of White 
Plume, however, matters were pretty fairly bal- 
anced between liim and the offenders ; he having 
as often treated them to a taste of the bitter, as 
they had robbed him of the sweets. 

It is but justice to this gallant chief to say, that 
he gave proofs of having acquired some of the 
lights of civilization from his proximity to the 
whites, as was evinced in his knowledge of driving 
a bargain. He required hard cash in return for 
some corn with which he supplied the worthy cap- 
tain, and left the latter at a loss which most to 
admire, his native chivalry as a brave, or his 
acquired adroitness as a trader. 




CHAPTER III. 

Wide prairies. — Vegetable productions. — Tabular hills, — 
Slabs of sandstone. — Nebraska or Platte River. — Scanty 
fare. — Buffalo skulls. — Wagons turned into boats. — 
Herds of Buffalo. — Cliffs resembling castles. — The Chim- 
ney. — Scott's Bluffs. — Story connected with them. — 
The bighorn or ahsahta — its nature and habits. — Differ- 
ence between that and the " woolly sheep," or goat of the 
mountains. 



f^^l |ROM the middle to the end of May, 
G ^r ' Captam Bonneville pursued a western 
3Jta^!ra! course over vast undulating plains, des- 
titute of tree or shrub, rendered miry by occa- 
sional rain, and cut up by deep water-courses 
whence they had to dig roads for their wagons 
down the soft crumbling banks, and to throw 
bridges across the streams. The weather had 
attained the summer heat; the thermometer 
standuig about fifty-seven degrees in the morning, 
early, but rising to about ninety degrees at noon. 
The mcessant breezes, however, which sweep 
these vast plains, render the heats endurable. 
Game was scanty, and they had to eke out their 
scanty fare with wild roots and vegetables, such 
as the Indian potato, the wild onion, and the 
prairie tomato, and they met with quantities of 
" red root," from which the hunters make a very 



NEBRASKA OR PLATTE RIVER. 51 

palatable beverage. The only human being that 
crossed their path was a Kansas warrior, return- 
ing from some solitary expedition of bravado or 
revenge, bearing a Pawnee scalp as a trophy. 

The country gradually rose as they proceeded 
westward, and their route took them over high 
ridges, commanding wide and beautiful prospects. 
The vast plain was studded on the west with in- 
numerable hills of conical shape, such as are- seen 
north of the Ai-kansas River. These hills have 
their summits apparently cut off about the same 
elevation, so as to leave flat surfaces at top. It 
is conjectured by some, that the whole country 
may originally have been of the altitude of these 
tabular hills ; but through some process of nature 
may have sunk to its present level ; these insu- 
lated eminences being protected by broad founda- 
tions of solid rock. 

Captain Bonneville mentions another geological 
phenomenon north of Red River, where the sur- 
face of the earth, in considerable tracts of country, 
is covered with broad slabs of sandstone, having 
the form and position of grave-stones, and look- 
ing as if they had been forced up by some sub- 
terranean agitation. " The resemblance," says 
he, " which these very remarkable spots have in 
many places to old church-yards is curious in the 
extreme. One might almost fancy himself among 
the tombs of the pre-Adamites." 

On the 2d of June, they arrived on the main 
stream of the Nebraska or Platte River ; twenty- 
five miles below the head of the Great Island. 
The low banks of this river give it an appearance 



52 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

of great width. Captain Bonneville measured it 
in one place, and found it twenty-two hundred 
yards from bank to bank. Its dejDth was from 
three to six feet, the bottom full of quicksands. 
The Nebraska is studded with islands covered 
with that species of poplar called the cotton-wood 
tree. Keeping up along the course of this river 
for several days, they were obliged, from the 
scarcity of game, to put themselves uj^on short 
allowance, and, occasionally, to kill a steer. They 
bore their daily labors and privations, howeV^er, 
with great good humor, taking their tone, in all 
probability, from the buoyant spirit of their 
leader. " If the weather was inclement," says 
the caj^tain, " we watched the clouds, and hoped 
for a sight of the blue sky and the merry sun. 
If food was scanty, we regaled ourselves with the 
hope of soon falling in with herds of buffalo, and 
having nothing to do but slay and eat." We 
doubt whether the genial captain is not describing 
the cheeriness of his own breast, which gave a 
cheery aspect to everything around him. 

There certainly were evidences, however, that 
the country was not always equally destitute of 
game. At one place, they observed a field dec- 
orated with buffalo skulls, arranged in circles, 
curves, and other mathematical figures, as if for 
some mystic rite or ceremony. They were al- 
most innumerable, and seemed to have been a 
vast hecatomb offered up in thanksgiving to the 
Great Spirit for some signal success in the chase. 

On the 11th of June, they came to the fork of 
the Nebraska, where it divides itself into two 



WAGONS TURNED INTO BOATS. 53 

equal and beautiful streams. One of these 
branches rises in the west-southwest, near the 
head waters of the Arkansas. Up the course of 
this branch, as Captain Bonneville was well 
aware, lay the route to the Camanche and Kio- 
way Indians, and to the northern Mexican settle- 
ments ; of the other branch he knew nothing. 
Its sources might lie among wild and inaccessible 
cliiFs, and tumble and foam down rugged defiles 
and over craggy precipices ; but its direction was 
in the tru^ course, and up this stream he deter- 
mined to prosecute his route to the Rocky Moun- 
tains. Finding it impossible, from quicksands 
and other dangerous impediments, to cross the 
river in this neighborhood, he kept up along the 
south fork for two days, merely seeking a safe 
fording place. At length he encamped, caused 
the bodies of the wagons to be dislodged from 
the wheels, covered with buffalo hides, and be- 
smeared with a compound of tallow and ashes ; 
thus forming rude boats. In these, they ferried 
their effects across the stream, which was six 
hundred yards wide, with a swift and strong cur- 
rent. Three men were in each boat, to manage 
it; others waded across, pusliing the barks be- 
fore them. Thus all crossed in safety. A march 
of nine miles took them over high rolling prairies 
to the north fork ; their eyes being regaled with 
the welcome sight of herds of buffalo at a dis- 
tance, some careermg the i3lain, others grazing 
and reposing in the natural meadows. 

Skirting along the north fork for a day or two, 
excessively annoyed by musquitoes and buffalo 



54 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

gnats, they reached, on the evening of the 17th, 
a small but beautiful grove, from which issued 
the confused notes of singing birds, the first they 
had heard since crossmg the boundary of INIis- 
souri. After so many days of weary travelling, 
through a naked, monotonous, and silent country, 
it was delightful once more to hear the song of 
the bird, and to behold the verdure of the grove. 
It was a beautiful sunset, and a sight of the 
glowing rays, mantling the tree-tops and rustling 
branches, gladdened every heart. They pitched 
their camp in the grove, kindled their fires, par- 
took merrily of their rude fare, and resigned 
themselves to the sweetest sleep they had en- 
joyed since their outset upon the prairies. 

The country now became rugged and broken. 
High bluffs advanced upon the river, and forced 
the travellers occasionally to leave its banks and 
wind their course into the interior. In one of 
the wild and solitary passes, they were startled 
by the trail of four or five pedestrians, whom 
they supposed to be spies from some predatory 
camp of either Arickara or Crow Lidians. Tliis 
obliged them to redouble their vigilance at night, 
and to keejD especial watch upon their horses. 
In these rugged and elevated regions they began 
to see the black-tailed deer, a species larger than 
the ordinary kind, and chiefly found in rocky and 
mountamous countries. They had reached also 
a great buffalo range ; Captain Bonneville as- 
cended a high bluff", commanding an extensive 
view of the surrounding plams. As far as his 
eye could reach, the country seemed absolutely 



SCOTrS BLUFFS. 55 

blackened by innumerable herds. No language, 
he says, could convey an adequate idea of the 
vast living mass thus presented to his eye. He 
remarked that the bulls and cows generally con- 
gregated in separate herds. 

Opposite to the camp at this place was a sin- 
gular phenomenon, which is among the curiosities 
of the country. It is called the Chimney. The 
lower part is a conical mound, rising out of the 
naked plain ; fi-om the summit shoots up a shaft 
or column, about one hundred and twenty feet 
in height, from which it derives its name. The 
height of the whole, according to Captain Bonne- 
ville, is a hundred and seventy-five yards. It is 
composed of indurated clay, with alternate layers 
of red and white sandstone, and may be seen at 
the distance of upwards of thirty miles. 

On the 21st, they encamped amidst high and 
beethng cliffs of indurated clay and sandstone, 
bearing the semblance of towers, castles, churches, 
and fortified cities. At a distance, it was scarcely 
possible to persuade one's self that the works of 
art were not mingled with these fantastic freaks 
of nature. They have received the name of 
Scott's Bluffs, from a melancholy circumstance. 
A number of years since, a party were descending 
the upper part of the river in canoes, when their 
frail barks were overturned and all their powder 
spoUed. Their rifles beuig thus rendered use- 
less, they were unable to procure food by limiting 
and had to depend upon roots and wild fruits for 
subsistence. After suffering extremely from hun- 
ger, they arrived at Laramie's Fork, a small trib- 



56 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

utary of the north branch of the Nebraska, about 
sixty miles above the cliffs just mentioned. Here 
one of the party, by the name of Scott, was taken 
ill ; and his companions came to a halt, until he 
should recover health and strength sufficient to 
proceed. While they were searching round in 
quest of edible roots, they discovered a fresh trail 
of white men, who had evidently but recently 
preceded them. What was to be done ? By a 
forced march they might overtake this party, and 
thus be able to reach the settlements in safety. 
Should they linger, they might all perish of famine 
and exhaustion. Scott, however, was incapable 
of moving ; they were too feeble to aid him for- 
ward, and dreaded that such a clog would pre- 
vent their coming up with the advance party. 
They determined, therefore, to abandon him to 
his fate. Accordingly, under pretense of seeking 
food, and such simples as might be efficacious in 
his malady, they deserted liim anfl hastened for- 
ward upon the trail. They succeeded in overtak- 
ing the party of which they were m quest, but 
concealed their faithless desertion of Scott ; alleg- 
ing that he had died of disease. 

On the. ensuing summer, these very individuals 
visiting these parts in company with others, came 
suddenly upon the bleached bones and grinning 
skull of a human skeleton, which, by certain signs 
they recognized for the remains of Scott. This 
was sixty long miles from the place where they 
had abandoned him ; and it appeared that the 
wretched man had crawled that immense distance 
before death put an end to his miseries. The 



THE AHSAHTA. 57 

wild and picturesque bluffs in the neighborhood of 
his lonely grave have ever since borne his name. 

Amidst this wild and striking scenery, Captain 
Bonneville, for the first time, beheld flocks of the 
ahsahta or bighorn, an animal which frequents 
these cliffs in great numbers. They accord with 
the nature of such scenery, and add much to its 
romantic effect; bounding like goats from crag 
to crag, often trooping along the lofty shelves of 
the mountains, under the guidance of some vener- 
able patriarch, with horns twisted lower than his 
muzzle, and sometimes peering over the edge of 
a precipice, so high that they aj^pear scarce bigger 
than crows ; indeed, it seems a pleasure to them 
to seek the most rugged and frightful situations, 
doubtless from a feeling of security. 

This animal is commonly called the mountain 
sheep, and is often confounded with another ani- 
mal, the " woolly sheep," found more to the north- 
ward, about the country of the Flatheads. The 
latter hkewise inhabits cliffs in sununer, but de- 
scends into the valleys in the winter. It has white 
wool, like a sheep, mingled with a thin growth 
of long hair ; but it has short legs, a deep belly, 
and a beard like a goat. Its horns are about five 
inches long, slightly curved backwards, black as 
jet, and beautifully pohshed. Its hoofs are of 
the same color. This animal is by no means so 
active as the bighorn ; it does not bound much, 
but sits a good deal upon its haunches. It is not 
so plentiful either ; rarely more than two or three 
are seen at a time. Its wool alone gives a re- 
semblance to the sheep ; it is more properly of 



58 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES 

the goat genus. The flesh is said to have a 
musty flavor ; some have thought the fleece might 
be valuable, as it is said to be as fine as that of 
the goat of Cashmere, but it is not to be procured 
in sufficient quantities. 

The ahsahta, argali, or bighorn, on the con- 
trary, has short hair like a deer, and resembles it 
in shape, but has the head and horns of a sheep, 
and its flesh is said to be a delicious mutton. 
The Indians consider it more sweet and delicate 
than any other kind of venison. It abounds in 
the Rocky Mountains, from the fiftieth degree of 
north latitude, quite down to California ; gener- 
ally in the highest regions capable of vegetation ; 
sometimes it ventures into the valleys, but on the 
least alarm, regains its favorite cliffs and preci- 
pices, where it is perilous, if not impossible for 
the hunter to follow.-^ 

1 Dimensions of a male of this species, from the nose to the 
base of the tail, five feet ; length of the tail, four inches ; girth 
of the body, four feet; height, three feet eight inches; the 
horn, three feet six inches long ; one foot three inches in cir- 
cumference at base. 





CHAPTER IV. 

An alann. — Crow Indians — their appearance — mode of 
approach — their vengeful errand — their curiosity. — Hos- 
tility between the Crows and Blackfeet, — Loving conduct 
of the Crows. — Laramie's Fork. — First Navigation of the 
Nebraska. —Great elevation of the country. — Rarity of the 
atmosphere — its effect on the wood-work of wagons. 
— Black Hills — their wild and broken scenery. — Indian 
dogs. — Crow trophies. — Sterile and dreary country. — 
Banks of the Sweet Water. — Buffalo hunting. — Adven- 
ture of Tom Cain, the Irish cook. 



^jyjjIHEN on the march, Captain Bonneville 
WwK always sent some of his best hunters in 
f>^«^^ the advance to reconnoitre the country, 
as well as to look out for game. On the 24th 
of May, as the caravan was slowly journeying 
up the banks of the Nebraska, the hunters came 
galloping back, waving their caps, and giving the 
alarm cry, Indians ! Indians ! 

The captain immediately ordered a halt : the 
hunters now came up and announced that a large 
war-party of Crow Indians were just above, on 
the river. The captain knew the character of 
these savages ; one of the most roving, warlike, 
crafty, and predatory tribes of the mountains ; 
horse-stealers of the first order, and easily pro- 
voked to acts of sanguinary violence. Orders 
were accordingly given to prepare for action, and 



60 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

every one promptly took the post that had been 
assigned him, in the general order of the march, 
in all cases of warlike emergency. 

Everything being put in battle array, the cap- 
tain took the lead of his little band, and moved 
on slowly and warily. In a little while he be-" 
held the Crow warriors emerging from among 
the bluffs. There were about sixty of them ; 
fine martial-looking fellows, painted and arrayed 
for war, and mounted on horses decked out with 
all kinds of wild trappings. They came pranc- 
ing along in gallant style, with many wild and 
dexterous evolutions, for none can surpass them 
in horsemanship; and their bright colors, and 
flaunting and fantastic embellishments, glaring 
and sparkling in the morning sunshine, gave them 
really a striking appearance. 

Their mode of approach, to one not acquainted 
with the tactics and ceremonies of this rude chiv- 
alry of the wilderness, had an air of direct hos- 
tility. They came galloping forward in a body, 
as if about to make a furious charge, but, when 
close at hand, opened to the right and left, and 
wheeled in wide circles round the travellers, 
whooping and yelling like maniacs. 

This done, their mock fury sank into a calm, 
and the chief, approaching the captain, who had 
remained warily drawn up, though informed of 
the pacific nature of the manoeuvre, extended to 
him the hand of friendship. The pipe of peace 
was smoked, and now all was good fellowship. 

The Crows were in pursuit of a band of Chey- 
ennes, who had attacked their village in the night, 



INDIAN CURIOSITY. 61 

and killed one of their people. They had already 
been five and twenty days on the track of the 
marauders, and were determined not to return 
home until they had sated their revenge. 

A few days previously, some of their scouts, 
who were ranging the country at a distance from 
the main body, had discovered the party of Cap- 
tain Bonneville. They had dogged it for a time 
in secret, astonished at the long train of wagons 
and oxen, and especially struck with the sight of 
a cow and calf, quietly following the caravan ; 
supposing them to be some kind of tame buffalo. 
Having satisfied their curiosity, they carried back 
to their chief intelligence of all that they had 
seen. He had, in consequence, diverged from y 
his pursuit of vengeance to behold the wonders 
described to him. " Now that we have met you," 
said he to Captain Bonneville, "and have seen 
these marvels with our own eyes, our hearts are 
glad. " In fact, nothing could exceed the curios- 
ity evinced by these people as to the objects be- 
fore them. Wagons had never been seen by them 
before, and they examined them with the greatest 
minuteness ; but the calf was the peculiar object 
of their admiration. They watched it with in- 
tense interest as it licked the hands accustomed 
to feed it, and were struck with the mild expres- 
sion of its countenance and its perfect docility. 

After much sage consultation, they at length 
determined that it must be the " great medicine " 
of the white party ; an appellation given by the 
Indians to anything of supernatural and myste- 
rious power, that is guarded as a talisman. They 



62 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

were completely thrown out in their conjecture, 
however, by an offer of the white men to ex- 
change the calf for a horse; their estimation of 
the great medicine sank in an instant, and they 
declined the bargain. 

At the request of the Crow chieftain the two 
parties encamped together, and passed the residue 
of the day in company. The captain was well 
pleased with every opportunity to gain a knowl- 
edge of the " unsophisticated sons of nature," who 
had so long been objects of his poetic specula- 
tions ; and indeed this wild, horse-stealing tribe 
is one of the most notorious of the mountains. 
The chief, of course, had his scalps to show and 
his battles to recount. The Blackfoot is the 
hereditary enemy of the Crow, towards whom 
hostility is like a cherished principle of religion ; 
for every tribe, besides its casual antagonists, has 
some enduring foe with whom there can be no 
permanent reconciliation. The Crows and Black- 
feet, upon the whole, are enemies worthy of each 
otlier, being rogues and ruffians of the first water. 
As their predatory excursions extend over the 
same regions, they often come in contact with 
each other, and these casual conflicts serve to 
keep their wits awake and their passions alive. 

The present party of Crows, however, evinced 
nothing of the invidious character for which they 
are renowned. During the day and night that 
they were encamped in company with the travel- 
lers, their conduct was friendly in the extreme. 
They were, in fact, quite irksome in their atten- 
tions, and had a caressing manner at times quite 



LARAMIE'S FORK. 63 

importunate. It was not until after separation 
on the following morning, that the captain and 
his men ascertained the secret of all this loving- 
kindness. In the course of their fraternal ca- 
resses, the Crows had contrived to empty the / 
pockets of their white brothers ; to abstract the 
very buttons from their coats, and, above all, to 
make free with their hunting knives. 

By equal altitudes of the sun, taken at this 
last encampment, Captain Bonneville ascertained 
his latitude to be 41° 47' north. The thermom- 
eter, at six o'clock in the morning, stood at fifty- 
nine degrees ; at two o'clock, p. m., at ninety-two 
degrees ; and at six o'clock in the evening, at sev- 
enty degrees. 

The Black Hills, or Mountains, now began to 
be seen at a distance, printing the horizon with 
their rugored and broken outlines ; and threaten- 
ing to oppose a difficult barrier in the way of 
the travellers. 

On the 26th of May, the travellers encamped 
at Laramie's Fork, a clear and beautiful stream, 
rising in the west-southwest, maintaining an 
average width of twenty yards, and winding 
through broad meadows abounding in currants 
and gooseberries, and adorned with groves and 
clumps of trees. 

By an observation of Jupiter's satellites, with 
a Dolland reflecting telescope, Captain Bonneville 
ascertained the longitude to be 102° bT west of 
Greenwich. 

We will here step ahead of our narrative to 
observe, that about three years after the time of 



64 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

which we are treating, Mr. Robert Campbell, for- 
merly of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, 
descended the Platte from this fork, in skin ca- 
noes, thus proving, what had always been dis- 
credited, that the river was navigable. About 
the same time, he built a fort or trading post at 
Laramie's Fork, which he named Fort William, 
after his friend and partner, Mr. William Sub- 
lette. Since that time, the Platte has become a 
highway for the fur traders. 

For some days past, Captain Bonneville had 
been made sensible of the great elevation of 
country into which he was gradually ascending, 
by the effect of the dryness and rarefaction of 
the atmosphere upon his wagons. The wood- 
work shrunk ; the paint boxes of the wheels 
were continually working out, and it was neces- 
sary to support the spokes by stout props to pre- 
vent their falling asunder. The travellers were 
now entering one of those great steppes of the 
Far West, where the prevalent aridity of the at- 
mosphere renders the country unfit for cultiva- 
tion. In these regions there is a fresh sweet 
growth of grass in the spring, but it is scanty 
and short, and parches up in the course of the 
summer, so that there is none for the hunters to 
set fire to in the autumn. It is a common ob- 
servation, that " above the forks of the Platte 
the grass does not burn." All attempts at agri- 
culture and gardening in the neighborhood of 
Fort William, have been attended with very little 
success. The grain and vegetables raised there 
have been scanty in quantity and poor in quality. 



INDIAN DOGS. 65 

The great elevation of these plains, and the dry- 
ness of the atmosphere, will tend to retain these 
immense regions in a state of pristine wildness. 

In the course of a day or two more, the trav- 
ellers entered that wild and broken tract of the 
Crow country called the Black Hills, and here 
their journey became toilsome in the extreme. 
Rugged steeps and deep ravines incessantly ob- 
structed their progress, so that a great part of the 
day was spent in the painful toil of digging 
through banks, filling up ravines, forcing the 
wagons up the most forbidding ascents, or swing- 
ing them with ropes down the face of dangerous 
precipices. The shoes of their horses were worn 
out, and their feet injured by the rugged and 
stony roads. The travellers were annoyed also 
by frequent but brief storms, which would come 
hurrying over the hills, or through the mountain 
defiles, rage with great fury for a short time, and 
then pass off, leaving everything calm and serene 
again. 

For several nights the camp had been infested 
by vagabond Indian dogs, prowling about in quest 
of food. They were about the size of a large 
pointer; with ears short and erect, and a long 
bushy tail — altogether, they bore a striking re- 
semblance to a wolf. These skulking visitors 
would keep about the purlieus of the camp until 
daylight ; when, on the first stir of life among 
the sleepers, they would scamper off until they 
reached some rising ground, where they would 
take their seats, and keep a sharp and hungry 
watch upon every movement. The moment the 
5 



66 BONNEVILLE^ S ADVENTURES. 

travellers were fairly on the march, and the camp 
was abandoned, these starveling hangers-on would 
hasten to the deserted fires to seize upon the 
half-picked bones, the offals and garbage that lay 
about ; and, having made a hasty meal, with 
many a snap and snarl and growl, would follow 
leisurely on the trail of the caravan. Many at- 
tempts were made to coax or catch them, but in 
vain. Their quick and suspicious eyes caught 
the slightest sinister movement, and they turned 
and scampered off. At length one was taken. 
He was terribly alarmed, and crouched and trem- 
bled as if expecting instant death. Soothed, 
however, by caresses, he began after a time 
to gather confidence and wag his tail, and at 
length was brought to follow close at the heels 
of his captors, still, however, darting around fur- 
tive and suspicious glances, and evincing a dispo- 
sition to scamper off upon the least alarm. 

On the first of July the band of Crow war- 
riors again crossed their path. They came in 
vaunting and vainglorious style ; displaying five 
Cheyenne scalps, the trophies of their vengeance. 
They were now bound homewards, to appease 
the manes of their comrade by these proofs that 
his death had been revenged, and intended to 
have scalp-dances and other triumphant rejoic- 
ings. Captain Bonneville and his men, however, 
were by no means disposed to renew their con- 
fiding intimacy with these crafty savages, and 
above all, took care to avoid their pilfering ca- 
resses. They remarked one precaution of the 
Crows with respect to their horses ; to protect 



ROUTE OF THE TRAVELLERS. 67 

their hoofs from the sharp and jagged rocks 
among which they had to pass, they had covered 
them with shoes or buffalo hide. 

The route of the travellers lay generally along 
the course of the Nebraska or Platte, but occa- 
sionally, where steep promontories advanced to 
the margin of the stream, they were obliged to 
make inland circuits. One of these took them 
through a bold and stern country, bordered by a 
range of low mountains, running east and west. 
Everything around bore traces of some fearful 
convulsion of nature in times long past. Hith- 
erto the various strata of rock had exhibited 
a gentle elevation towards the southwest, but 
here everything appeared to have been subverted, 
and thrown out of place. In many places there 
were heavy beds of white sandstone resting upon 
red. Immense strata of rocks jutted up into 
crags and cliflfs ; and sometimes formed perpen- 
dicular walls and overhanging precipices. An 
air of sterility prevailed over these savage wastes. 
The valleys were destitute of herbage, and 
scantily clothed with a stunted species of worm- 
wood, generally known among traders and trap- 
pers by the name of sage. From an elevated 
point of their march through this region, the 
travellers caught a beautiful view of the Powder 
River Mountains away to the north, stretching 
along the very verge of the horizon, and seem- 
ing,' from the snow with which they were man- 
tled, to be a chain of small white clouds, connect- 
ing sky and earth. 

Though the thermometer at mi'lday ranged 



vi 



68 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

from eighty to ninety, and even sometimes rose 
to ninety-three degrees, yet occasional spots of 
snow were to be seen on the tops of the low 
mountains, among which the travellers were 
journeying ; proofs of the great elevation of the 
whole region. 

The Nebraska, in its passage through the 
Black Hills, is confined to a much narrower 
channel than that through which it flows in the 
plains below ; but it is deeper and clearer, and 
rushes with a stronger current. The scenery, 
also, is more varied and beautiful. Sometimes 
it glides rapidly but smootlily through a pictur- 
esque valley, between wooded banks ; then, forc- 
ing its way into the bosom of rugged mountains, 
it rushes impetuously through narrow defiles, 
roaring and foaming down rocks and rapids, until 
it is again soothed to rest in some peaceful val- 
ley. 

On the 12th of July, Captain Bonneville aban- 
doned the main stream of the Nebraska, which 
was continually shouldered by rugged promon- 
tories, and making a bend to the southwest, for a 
couple of days, part of the time over plains of 
loose sand, encamped on the 14th, on the banks 
of the Sweet Water, a stream about twenty 
yards in breadth, and four or five feet deep, flow- 
ing between low banks over a sandy soil, and 
forming one of the forks or upper branches of 
the Nebraska. Up this stream they now shaped 
their course for several successive days, tending, 
generally, to the west. The soil was light and 
sandy ; the country much diversified. Fre- 



TOM CAIN THE COOK. 69 

quently the plains were studded with isolated 
blocks of rock, sometimes in the shape of a 
half globe, and from three to four hundred feet 
high. These singular masses had occasionally a 
very imposing, and even sublime appearance, ris- 
ing from the midst of a savage and lonely land- 
scape. 

As the travellers continued to advance, they 
became more and more sensible of the elevation 
of the country. The hills around were more 
generally capped with snow. The men com- 
plained of cramps and colics, sore lips and mouths, 
and violent headaches. The wood-work of the 
wagons also shrank so much, that it was with 
difficulty the wheels were kept from falling to 
pieces. The country bordering upon the river 
was frequently gashed with deep ravines, or 
traversed by high bluffs, to avoid which, the 
travellers were obliged to make wide circuits 
through the plains. In the course of these, they 
came upon immense herds of buffalo, which kept 
scouring off in the van, like a retreating army. 

Among the motley retainers of the camp was 
Tom Cain, a raw Irishman, who officiated as 
cook, whose various blunders and expedients in 
his novel situation, and in the wild scenes and 
wild kind of life into which he had suddenly 
been thrown, had made him a kind of butt or 
droll of the camp. Tom, however, began to dis- 
cover an ambition superior to his station ; and 
the conversation of the hunters, and their stories 
of their exploits, inspired him with a desire to 
elevate himself to the dignity of their order. 



70 B ONNE VILLE' S AD VENTURES. 

The buffalo in such immense droves presented a 
tempting opportunity for making liis first essay. 
He rode, in the line of march, all prepared for 
action : his powder-flask and shot-pouch know- 
ingly slung at the pommel of his saddle, to be at 
hand ; his rifle balanced on his shoulder. While 
in this plight, a troop of buflTalo came trotting by 
in great alarm. In an instant, Tom sprang from 
his horse and gave chase on foot. Finding they 
were leaving him behind, he levelled his rifle and 
pulled trigger. His shot produced no other ef- 
fect than to increase the speed of the buffalo, and 
to frighten his own horse, who took to his heels, 
and scampered off with all the ammunition. 
Tom scampered after him, hallooing with might 
and main, and the wild horse and wild Irishman 
soon disappeared among the ravines of the prairie. 
Captain Bonneville, who was at the head of the 
line, and had seen the transaction at a distance, 
detached a party in pursuit of Tom. After a 
long interval they returned, leading the frightened 
horse ; but though they had scoured the country, 
and looked out and shouted from every height, 
they had seen nothing of his rider. 

As Captain Bonneville knew Tom's utter 
awkwardness and inexperience, and the dangers 
of a bewildered Irishman in the midst of a prairie, 
he halted and encamped at an early hour, that 
there miojht be a reijular hunt for him in the 
morning. 

At early dawn on the following day scouts were 
sent off in every direction, while the main body, 
after breakfast, proceeded slowly on its course. 



TOM'S RETURN. 71 

It was not until the middle of the afternoon that 
tiie hunters returned, with honest Tom mounted 
behmd one of them. They had found him in a 
complete state of perplexity and amazement. His 
appearance caused shouts of merriment in the 
camp, — but Tom for once could not join in the 
mirth raised at his expense : he was completely 
chapfallen, and apparently cured of the hunting 
mania for the rest of his hfe. 




CHAPTER V. 

^Magnificent scenery. — Wind River Mountains. — Treasury 
of waters. — A stray horse. — An Indian trail. — Trout 
streams. — The Great Green River Valle}'. — An alarm. — 
A band of trappers. — Fontenelle, his information. — Suffer- 
ings of thirst. — Encampment on the Seeds-ke-dee. — 
Strategy of rival traders. — Fortification of the camp. — 
The Blackfeet. — Banditti of the mountains. — Their char- 
acter and habits. 




T was on the 20th of July that Captain 
Bonneville first came in sight of the grand 
region of his hopes and anticipations, the 
Rocky Mountains. He had been making a bend 
to the south, to avoid some obstacles along the 
river, and had attained a high, rocky ridge, when 
a magnificent prospect burst upon his sight. To 
the west, rose the Wind River Mountains, with 
their bleached and snowy summits towering mto 
the clouds. These stretched far to the north-north- 
west, until they melted away into what appeared 
to be faint clouds, but which the experienced eyes 
of the veteran hunters of the party recognized for 
the rugged mountains of the Yellowstone ; at the 
feet of which, extended the wild Crow country : 
a perilous, though profitable region for the trapper. 
To the southwest, the eye ranged over an im- 
mense extent of wilderness, with what appeared 
to be a snowy vapor resting upon its horizon. 



WIND RIVER MOUNTAINS. 73 

This, however, was pointed out as another branch 
of the Great Chippewyan, or Rocky chain ; being 
the Eutaw Mountains, at whose basis, the wander- 
ing tribe of hunters of the same name pitch their 
tents. 

We can imagine the enthusiasm of the worthy 
captain, when he beheld the vast and mountainous 
scene of his adventurous enterprise thus suddenly 
unveiled before him. We can imagine with what 
feelings of awe and admiration he must have con- 
templated the Wind River Sierra, or bed of moun- 
tains ; that great fountain-head, from whose springs, 
and lakes, and melted snows, some of those mighty 
rivers take their rise, which wander over hundreds 
of miles of varied country and clime, and find 
their way to the opposite waves of the Atlantic 
and the Pacific. 

The Wind River Mountains are, in fact, among 
the most remarkable of the whole Rocky chain ; 
and would appear to be among the loftiest. They 
form, as it were, a great bed of mountains, about 
eighty miles in length, and from twenty to thirty 
in breadth ; with rugged peaks, covered with eter- 
nal snows, and deep, narrow valleys, full of springs, 
and brooks, and rock-bound lakes. From this 
great treasury of waters, issue forth limpid streams, 
which, augmenting as they descend, become main 
tributaries, of the Missouri on the one side, and 
the Columbia on the other ; and give rise to the 
Seeds-ke-dee Agie, or Green River, the great Col- 
orado of the West, that empties its current into 
the Gulf of California. 

The Wind River Mountains are notorious in 



74 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

hunters' and trappers' stories : their rugged defiles, 
and the rouo^h tracts about their neiijhborhood, 
having been lurking-j^laces for the predatory 
hordes of the mountains, and scenes of rough 
encounter with Crows and Blackfeet. It was to 
the west of these mountains in the valley of the 
Seeds-ke-dee Agie, or Green River, that Captain 
Bonneville intended to make a halt, for the pur- 
pose of giving repose to his people and his horses, 
after tlieir weary journeying; and of collecting 
information as to his future course. This Green 
River Valley, and its immediate neighborhood, as 
we have already observed, formed the main point 
of rendezvous, for the present year, of the rival 
fur companies, and the motley poj)ulace, civilized 
and savage, connected with them. Several days 
of rugged travel, however, yet remamed for the 
captain and his men, before they should encamp 
in this desired resting-place. 

On the 21st of July, as they were pursuing 
their course through one of the meadows of the 
Sweet Water, they beheld a horse grazing at a 
little distance. He showed no alarm at their ap- 
proach, but suffered himself quietly to be taken, 
evincing a perfect state of tameness. The scouts 
of the party were instantly on the lookout for 
the owners of this animal ; lest some dangerous 
band of savages might be lurking in the vicinity. 
After a narrow search, they discovered the trail 
of an Lidian party, which had evidently passed 
through that neighborhood but recently. The 
horse was accordingly taken possession of, as 
an estray ; but a more vigilant watch than usual 



TROUT STREAM. 75 

was kept round the camp at nights, lest liis former 
owners should be upon the prowl. 

The travellers had now attained so high an 
elevation, that on the 23d of July, at daybreak, 
there was considerable ice in the water-buckets, 
and the thermometer stood at twenty-two degrees. 
The rarity of the atmosphere continued to affect 
the wood-work of the wagons, and the wheels 
were incessantly falling to pieces. A remedy was 
at length devised. The tire of each wheel was 
taken off; a band of wood was nailed round the 
exterior of the felloes, the tire was then made red 
hot, replaced round the wheel, and suddenly cooled 
with water. By this means, the whole was bound 
together with great compactness. 

The extreme elevation of these great steppes, 
which range along the feet of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, take away from the seeming height of their 
peaks, which yield to few in the known world m 
point of altitude above the level of the sea. 

On the 24th, the travellers took final leave of 
the Sweet Water, and keeping westwardly, over 
a low and very rocky ridge, one of the most 
southern spurs of the Wind River Mountains, 
they encamped, after a march of seven hours and 
a half, on the banks of a small clear stream, run- 
ning to the south, in which they caught a numbcn- 
of fine trout. 

The sight of these fish was hailed with pleas- 
ure, as a sign that they had reached the waters 
which flow into the Pacific ; for it is only on the 
western streams of the Rocky Mountains that 
trout are to be taken. The stream on which 



76 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

they had thus encamped, proved, in effect, to be 
tributary to the Seeds-ke-dee Agie, or Green 
River, into which it flowed, at some distance to 
the south. 

Captain Bonneville now considered himself as 
having fairly passed the crest of the Rocky 
Mountains ; and felt some degree of exultation in 
l)eing the first individual that had crossed, north 
of the settled provinces of Mexico, from the 
waters of the Atlantic to those of the Pacific, 
with wagons. Mr. William Sublette, the enter- 
13rising leader of the Rocky Mountain Fur Com- 
pany had, two or three years previously, reached 
the valley of the Wind River, wliich lies on the 
northeast of the mountains ; but had proceeded 
with them no further. 

A vast valley now spread itself before the 
travellers, bounded on one side by the Wind 
River Mountains, and to the west, by a long range 
of high hills. This, Captain Bonneville was 
assured by a veteran hunter in liis company, was 
the great valley of the Seeds-ke-dee ; and the 
same informant would foin have persuaded him, 
that a small stream, three feet deep, which he 
came to on the 25 th, was that river. The captain 
was convinced, however, that the stream was too 
insignificant to drain so wide a valley and the 
adjacent mountains : he encamped, therefore, at 
an early hour, on its borders, that he might take 
the whole of the next day to reach the main 
river ; which he presumed to flow between him 
and the distant range of western hills. 

On the 2Gth of Julv, he commenced his march 



FONTENELLE AND HIS PARTY. 77 

at an early hour, making directly across the val- 
ley, towards the hills in the west ; proceeding at 
as brisk a rate as the jaded condition of his horses 
would permit. About eleven o'clock in the 
morning, a great cloud of dust was descried in 
the rear, advancing directly on the trail of the 
party. The alarm was given ; they all came to a 
halt, and held a council of war. Some conjec- 
tured that the band of Indians, whose trail they 
had discovered in the neighborhood of the stray 
horse, had been lying in wait for them, in some 
secret fastness of the mountains ; and were about 
to attack them on the oi3en plain, where they 
would have no shelter. Preparations were im- 
mediately made for defense ; and a scouting party 
sent off to reconnoitre. They soon came gallop- 
mg back, making signals that all was well. The 
cloud of dust was made by a band of fifty or sixty 
mounted trappers, belonging to the American Fur 
Company, who soon came up, leading their pack- 
horses. They were headed by Mr. Fontenelle, 
an experienced leader, or " partisan," as a chief 
of a party is called, in the technical language of 
the trappers. 

Mr. Fontenelle informed Captain Bonneville, 
that he was on his way from the company's 
trading post on the Yellowstone, to the yearly ren- 
dezvous, with reinforcements and supplies for 
their hunting and trading parties beyond the 
mountains ; and that he expected to meet, by 
appointment, with a baud of free trappers in that 
very neighborhood. He had fallen upon the trail 
of Captain Bonneville's party, just after leaving 



78 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

the Nebraska ; and, finding tliat they had fright- 
ened oiF all the game, had been obliged to push 
on, by forced marches, to avoid famine : both 
men and horses were, therefore, much travel- 
worn ; but this was no place to halt ; the plain 
before them he said, was destitute of grass and 
water, neither of which would be met with short 
of the Green River, which was yet at a consider- 
able distance. He hoped, he added, as his party 
were all on horseback, to reach the river, with 
hard travelling, by nightfall : but he doubted the 
possibility of Captain Bonneville's arrival there 
with his wagons before the day following. Hav- 
ing imparted this information, he pushed forward 
with all speed. 

Captain Bonneville followed on as fast as cir- 
cumstances would permit. The ground was firm 
and gravelly ; but the horses were too much 
fatigued to move rapidly. After a long and 
harassing day's march, without pausing for a 
noontide meal, they were compelled, at nine 
o'clock at night, to encamp in an open plain, des- 
titute of water or pasturage. On the following 
morning, the horses were turned loose at the peep 
of day ; to slake their thnst, if possible, from the 
dew collected on the sparse grass, here and there 
springing \x\) among dry sand-banks. The soil of 
a great part of this Green River Valley is a 
whitish clay, into which the rain cannot penetrate, 
but which dries and cracks with the sun. In 
some places it produces a salt weed, and grass 
alonfif the maro-ins of the streams ; but the wider 
expanses of it are desolate and barren. It was 



STRATAGY OF RIVAL TRADERS. 79 

not until noon that Captain Bonneville reached 
the banks of the Seeds-ke-dee, or Colorado of the 
West ; in the meantime, the sufferings of both 
men and horses had been excessive, and it was 
with almost frantic eagerness that they hurried to 
allay their burning tliirst in the limpid current of 
the river. 

Fontenelle and his party had not fared much 
better ; the chief part had managed to reach the 
river by nightfall, but were nearly knocked up 
by the exertion ; the horses of others sank under 
them, and they were obliged to pass the night upon 
the road. 

On the following morning, July 27 th, Fon- 
tenelle moved his camp across the river ; while 
Captain Bonneville proceeded some little distance 
below, where there was a small but fi*esh meadow, 
yielding abundant pasturage. Here the poor 
jaded horses were turned out to graze, and take 
their rest: the weary journey up the mountains 
had worn them down in flesh and spirit ; but this 
last march across the thirsty plain had nearly 
finished them. 

The captain had here the first taste of the 
boasted strates^v of the fur trade. Durinof his 
brief, but social encampment, in company with 
Fontenelle, that experienced trapper had managed 
to win over a number of Delaware Lidians whom 
the captain had brought with him, by offering 
them four hundred dollars each, for the ensuing 
autumnal hunt. The captain was somewhat 
astonished when he saw these hunters, on whose 
services he had calculated securely, suddenly pack 



80 B ONNE VILLE' S AD VEN T URES. 

up their traps, and go over to the rival camp. 
That he might, in some measure, howevei*, be 
even with his competitor, he dispatched two scouts 
to look out for the band of free trappers who 
were to meet Fontenelle in this neighborhood, 
and to endeavor to bring them to his camp. 

As it would be necessary to remain some time 
in this neighborhood, that both men and horses 
might repose and recruit their strength ; and as 
it was a region full of danger. Captain Bonneville 
proceeded to fortify his camp with breastworks 
of logs and pickets. 

These precautions were, at that time, pecul- 
iarly necessary, from the bands of Blackfeet In- 
dians which were rovino^ about the neio;hborhood. 
These savasres are the most dangerous banditti 
of the mountains, and the inveterate foe of the 
trappers. They are Ishmaelites of the first 
order ; always with weapon in hand, ready for 
action. The young braves of the tribe, who are 
destitute of property, go to war for booty ; to 
gain horses, and acquire the means of setting up 
a lodge, supporting a family, and entitling them- 
selves to a seat in the public councils. The vet- 
eran warriors fight merely for the love of the 
thing, and the consequence which success gives 
them among their people. 

They are capital horsemen, and are generally 
well mounted on short, stout horses, similar to 
the prairie ponies, to be met with at St. Louis. 
"SYhen on a war party, however, they go on foot, 
to enable them to skulk through the country with 
greater secrecy ; to keep m thickets and ravines, 



THE BLACKFEET INDIANS. 81 

and use more adroit subterfuges and stratagems. 
Their mode of warfare is entirely by ambush, 
surprise, and sudden assaults in the night time. 
If they succeed in causing a panic, they dash for- 
ward with a headlong fury : if the enemy is on 
the alert, and shows no signs of fear, they become 
wary and deliberate in their movements. 

Some of them are armed in the primitive style, 
with bows and arrows ; the greater part have 
American fusees, made after the fashion of those 
of the Hudson's Bay Company. These they pro- 
cure at the trading post of the American Fur Com- 
pany, on Marias River, where they traffic their pel- 
tries for arms, ammunition, clotliing, and trinkets. 
They are extremely fond of spirituous liquors 
and tobacco ; for which nuisances they are ready 
to exchange, not merely their guns and horses, 
but even their wives and daughters. As they 
are a treacherous race, and have cherished a lurk- 
ing hostility to the whites ever since one of their 
tribe was killed by Mr. Lewis, the associate of 
General Clarke, in his exploring expedition across 
the Rocky Mountains, the American Fur Com- 
pany is obliged constantly to keep at that post a 
garrison of sixty or seventy men. 

Under the general name of Blackfeet, are com- 
prehended several tribes : such as the Surcies, 
the Peagans, the Blood Indians, and the Gros 
Ventres of the Prairies : who roam about the 
southern branches of the Yellowstone and Mis- 
souri rivers, together with some other tribes fur- 
ther north. 

The bands infestinor the Wind River Moun- 



82 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

tains, and the country adjacent, at the time of 
which we are treating, were Gros Ventres of the 
Prairies, which are not to be confounded with 
Gros Ventres of the Missouri, who keep about 
the lower part of that river, and are friendly to 
the white men. 

This hostile band keeps about the head waters 
of the Missouri, and numbers about nine hun- 
dred fighting men. Once in the course of two 
or three years they abandon their usual abodes, 
and make a visit to the Arapahoes of the Ar- 
kansas. Their route lies either through the 
Crow country, and the Black Hills, or through 
the lands of the Nez Perce s, Flatheads, Ban- 
nacks, and Shoshonies. As they enjoy their 
favorite state of hostility with all these tribes, 
their expeditions are prone to be conducted in 
the most lawless and predatory style ; nor do 
they hesitate to extend their maraudings to any 
party of white men they meet with ; following 
their trails ; hovering about their camj^s ; way- 
laying and dogging the caravans of the free 
traders, and murdering the solitary trapper. The 
consequences are, frequent and desperate fights 
between them and the "mountaineers," in the 
wild defiles and fastnesses of the Rocky Moun- 
tains. 

The band in question was, at this time, on their 
way homeward from one of their customary visits 
to the Arapahoes ; and in the ensuing chapter, 
we shall treat of some bloody encounters between 
them and the trappers, which had taken place 
just before tlie arrival of Captain Bonneville 
among the mountains. 




CHAPTER VI. 

Sublette and his band. — Robert Campbell. — Mr. Wyeth and 
a band of " Down-easters." — Yankee Enterprize. — Fitz- 
patrick — his adventure with the Blackfeet. — A rendez- 
vous of mountaineers. — The battle of Pierre's Hole. — An 
Indian ambuscade. — Sublette's return. 

|EAVING Captain Bonneville and his 
band ensconsced within their fortified 
camp in the Green River Valley, we 
shall step back and accompany a party of the 
Rocky Mountain Fur Company in its progress, 
with supplies from St. Louis, to the annual ren- 
dezvous at Pierre's Hole. This party consisted 
of sixty men, well mounted, and conducting a 
line of pack-horses. They were commanded by 
Captain William Sublette, a partner in the com- 
pany, and one of the most active, mtrepid, and 
renowned leaders in this half military kind of 
service. He was accompanied by his associate 
in business, and tried companion in danger, Mr. 
Robert Campbell, one of the pioneers of the trade 
beyond the mountains, who had commanded trap- 
ping parties there in times of the greatest peril. 

As these worthy compeers were on their route 
to the frontier, they fell in with another expedi- 
tion, likewise on its way to the mountains. This 
was a party of regular " Down-easters," that is to 



84 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

say, people of New England, who, with the all- 
penetrating and all-pervading spirit of their race, 
were now pushing their way into a new field of 
enterprise, with which they were totally unac- 
quainted. The party had been fitted out, and 
was maintained and commanded by Mr. Nathan- 
iel J. Wyeth, of Boston.^ This gentleman had 
conceived an idea, that a profitable fishery for 
salmon might be established on the Columbia 
River, and connected with the fur trade. He 
had, accordingly, invested cai3ital in goods, cal- 
culated, as he supposed, for the Indian trade, and 
had enlisted a number of Eastern men in his 
employ, who had never been in the Far West, 
nor knew anything of the wilderness. With 
these, he was bravely steering his way across the 
continent, undismayed by danger, difficulty, or 
distance, in the same way that a New England 
coaster and his neighbors will coolly launch forth 
on a voyage to the Black Sea, or a whaling cruise 
to the Pacific. 

With all their national aptitude at expedient 
and resource, Wyeth and his men felt themselves 
completely at a loss when they reached the fron- 
tier, and found that the wilderness requu'ed ex- 
perience and habitudes of which they were totally 
deficient. Not one of the party, excepting the 
leader, had ever seen an Indian or handled a 
rifle ; they were without guide or interpreter, and 
totally unacquainted with " wood craft," and the 
modes of makuig their way among savage hordes, 

1 In the former editions of this work we have erroneonsly 
given this enterprising individual the title of captain. 



FITZPATRICK. 85 

and subsisting themselves during long marches 
over wild mountains and barren plains. 

In this predicament, Captain Sublette found 
them, in a manner becalmed, or rather run 
aground, at the little frontier town of Independ- 
ence, in Missouri, and kindly took them in tow. 
The two parties travelled amicably together ; the 
frontier men of Sublette's party gave their Yan- 
kee comrades some lessons m hunting, and some 
insight into the art and mystery of dealing with 
the Indians, and they all arrived without accident 
at the upper branches of the Nebraska or Platte 
River. 

In the course of their march, Mr. Fitzpatrick, 
the partner of the company who was resident at 
that time beyond the mountains, came down from 
the rendezvous at Pierre's Hole to meet them, 
and hurry them forward. He travelled in com- 
pany with them until they reached the Sweet 
Water ; then taking a couple of horses, one for 
the saddle, and the other as a pack-horse, he 
started off express for Pierre's Hole, to make 
arrangements against their arrival, that he might 
commence his hunting campaign before the rival 
company. 

Fitzpatrick was a hardy and experienced moim-. 
taineer, and knew all the passes and defiles. As 
he was pursuing his lonely course up the Green 
River Valley, he descried several horsemen at a 
distance, and came to a halt to reconnoitre. He 
supposed them to be some detachment from the 
rendezvous, or a party of friendly Indians. They 
perceived him, and setting up the war-whoop, 



86 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

dashed forward at full speed : he saw at once his 
mistake and his peril — they were Blackfeet. 
Springmg upon his fleetest horse, and abandon- 
ing the other to the enemy, he made for the 
mountains, and succeeded in escaping uj) one of 
the most dangerous defiles. Here he concealed 
himself until he thought the Indians had gone 
off, when he returned into the valley. He was 
again pursued, lost his remaining horse, and only 
escaped by scrambling up among the cliffs. For 
several days he i-emained lurking among rocks 
and precipices, and almost famished, having but 
one remaining charge in his rifle, which he kept 
for self-defense. 

In the meantime, Sublette and Cami^bell, with 
their fellow-traveller, "Wyeth, had pursued their 
march unmolested, and arrived in the Green 
River Valley, totally unconscious that there was 
any lurking enemy at hand. They had en- 
camped one night on the banks of a small stream, 
which came down from the Wind River Moun- 
tains, when about midnight, a band of Indians 
burst uj^on their camp, with horrible yells and 
whoops, and a discharge of guns and arrows. 
Happily no other harm was done than wounding 
one mule, and causing several horses to break 
loose from their pickets. The camp was in- 
stantly in arms ; but the Indians retreated with 
yells of exultation, carrying off several of the 
horses, under covert of the night. 

This was somewhat of a disagreeable foretaste 
of mountain life to some of Wyeth's band, ac- 
customed only to the regular and peaceful life of 



PIERRE'S HOLE. 87 

New England ; nor was it altogether to the taste 
of Captain Sublette's men, who were chiefly 
Creoles and townsmen from St. Louis. They 
continued their march the next morning, keep- 
ing scouts ahead and upon their flanks, and ar- 
rived without further molestation at Pierre's 
Hole. 

The first inquiry of Captain Sublette, on reach- 
ing the rendezvous, was for Fitzpatrick. He had 
not arrived, nor had any intelligence been received 
concernmg him. Great uneasiness was now enter- 
tained, lest he should have fallen into the hands 
of the Blackfeet, who had made the midnight at- 
tack upon the camp. It was a matter of general 
joy, therefore, when he made his appearance, con- 
ducted by two half-breed Iroquois hunters. He 
had lurked for several days among the mountains, 
until almost starved; at length he escaped the 
vigilance of his enemies in the night, and was so 
fortunate as to meet the two Iroquois hunters, 
who, being on horseback, conveyed him without 
further difficulty to the rendezvous. He arrived 
there so emaciated that he could scarcely be rec- 
ognized. 

The valley called Pierre's Hole is about thirty 
miles in length and fifteen in width, bounded to 
the west and south by low and broken ridges, 
and overlooked to the east by three lofty moun- 
tains, called the three Tetons, which domineer as 
landmarks over a vast extent of country. 

A fine stream, fed by rivulets and mountain 
springs, pours through the valley towards the 
north, dividing it mto nearly equal parts. The 



88 B ONNEVILLrS AD VENTURES. 

meadows on its borders are broad and extensive, 
covered with willow and cotton-wood trees, so 
closely interlocked and matted together, as to be 
nearly imj)assable. 

In this valley was congregated the motley 
populace connected with the fur trade. Here 
the two rival companies had their encampments, 
with their retainers of all kinds : traders, trapjDcrs, 
hunters, and half-breeds, assembled from all quar- 
ters, awaiting their yearly supplies, and their 
orders to start off in new directions. Here, also, 
the savage tribes connected with the trade, the 
Nez Percys or Chopunnish Indians, and Flat- 
heads, had pitched their lodges beside the streams, 
and with their squaws awaited the distribution 
of goods and finery. There was, moreover, a 
band of fifteen free trappers, commanded by a 
gallant leader from Arkansas, named Sinclair, 
who held their encampment a little aj^art from 
the rest. Such was the wild and heterogeneous 
assemblage, amounting to several hundred men, 
civilized and savage, distributed in tents and 
lodges in the several camps. 

The arrival of Captain Sublette with supphes 
put the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in full 
activity. The wares and merchandise were 
quickly opened, and as quickly disposed of to 
trappers and Indians ; the usual excitement and 
revelry took place, after which, all hands began to 
disperse to their several destinations. 

On the 17th of July, a small brigade of four- 
teen trappers, led by Milton Sublette, brother of 
the captain, set out with the intention of proceed- 



ENCOUNTER WITH THE BLACKFEET. 89 

ing to the southwest. They were accompanied 
by Sinclair and his fifteen free trappers ; Wyeth, 
also, and his New England band of beaver hunt- 
ers and salmon fishers, now dwindled down to 
eleven, took this opportunity to prosecute their 
cruise in the wilderness, accompanied with such 
experienced pilots. On the first day, they pro- 
ceeded about eight miles to the southeast, and 
encamped for the night, still in the valley of 
Pierre's Hole. On the following morning, just 
as they were raising their camp, they observed a 
long line of people pouring down a defile of the 
mountains. They at first supposed them to be 
Fontenelle and his party, whose arrival had been 
daily expected. Wyeth, however, reconnoitered 
them with a spy-glass, and soon perceived they 
were Indians. They were divided into two par- 
ties, forming, in the whole, about one hundred 
and fifty persons, men, women, and children. 
Some were on horseback, fantastically painted 
and arrayed, with scarlet blankets fluttering in 
the wind. The greater part, however, were on 
foot. They had perceived the trappers before 
they were themselves discovered, and came down 
yelling and whooping into the plain. On nearer 
approach, they were ascertained to be Blackfeet. 

One of the trappers of Sublette's brigade, a 
half-breed, named Antoine Godin, now mounted 
his horse, and rode forth as if to hold a confer- 
ence. He was the son of an Iroquois hunter, 
who had been cruelly murdered by the Blackfeet 
at a small stream below the mountains, which 
stiU bears his name. In company with Antoine 



90 B ONNE VILLE S AD VEN T VRES. 

rode forth a Flathead Indian, whose once power- 
ful tribe had been completely broken down in 
their wars with the Blackfeet. Both of them, 
therefore, cherished the most vengeful hostility 
against these marauders of the mountains. The 
Blackfeet came to a halt. One of the chiefs ad- 
vanced singly and unarmed, bearing the pipe of 
peace. Tliis overture was certainly pacific ; but 
Antoine and the Flathead were predisposed to 
hostility, and pretended to consider it a treacher- 
ous movement. 

" Is your piece charged ? " said Antoine, to his 
red companion. 

" It is." 

" Then cock it, and follow me." 

They met the Blackfoot chief half way, who 
extended his hand in friendship. Antoine grasped 
it. 

" Fire ! " cried he. 

The Flathead levelled his piece, and brought 
the Blackfoot to the ground. Antoine snatched 
off his scarlet blanket, which was richly orna- 
mented, and galloped off with it as a trophy to 
the camp, the bullets of the enemy whistling 
after him. The Indians immediately threw them- 
selves into the edge of a swamp, among willows 
and cotton-wood trees, interwoven with vines. 
Here they began to fortify themselves ; the 
women digging a trench, and throwing up a 
breastwork of logs and branches, deep hid in the 
bosom of the wood, while the warriors skirmished 
at the edge to keep the trappers at bay. 

The latter took their station in a ravine in 



AN ALARM— A TURN-OUT. 91 

front, whence they kept up a scattering fire. As 
to Wyeth, and his little band of " Down-easters," 
they were perfectly astounded by this second 
specimen of life in the wilderness ; the men, be- 
ing especially unused to bush-fighting and the 
use of the rifle, were at a loss how to proceed. 
Wyeth, however, acted as a skillful commander. 
He got all liis horses into camp and secured 
them ; then, making a breastwork of his packs of 
goods, he charged his men to remain in garrison, 
and not to stir out of their fort. For himself, 
he mingled with the other leaders, determined to 
take his share in the conflict. 

In the meantime, an express had been sent off 
to the rendezvous for remforcements. Captain 
Sublette, and his associate, Campbell, were at 
their camp when the express came galloping 
across the plain, waving his cap, and giving the 
alarm ; " Blackfeet ! Blackfeet ! a fight in the 
upper part of the valley ! — to arms ! to 
arms ! " 

The alarm was passed from camp to camp. It 
was a common cause. Every one turned out 
with horse and rifle. The Nez Perces and Flat- 
heads joined. As fast as horsemen could arm 
and mount they galloped off; the valley was soon 
aUve with white men and red men scouring at 
full speed. 

Sublette ordered his men to keep to the camp, 
being recruits from St. Louis, and unused to In- 
dian warfare. He and his friend Campbell pre- 
pared for action. Throwing off their coats, roll- 
ing up their sleeves, and arming themselves with 



92 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

pistols aud rifles, they mounted their horses and 
dashed forward among the first. As they rode 
along, they made their wills in soldier-like style ; 
each stating how his effects should be disposed of 
in case of his death, and appointing the other his 
executor. 

The Blackfeet warriors had supposed the brig- 
ade of JMilton Sublette all the foe they had to 
deal with, and were astonished to behold the 
whole valley suddenly swarming with horsemen, 
galloping to the field of action. They withdrew 
into their fort, which was completely hid from 
sight in the dark and tangled wood. Most of 
their women and cliUdren had retreated to the 
mountains. The trappers now sallied forth and 
approached the swamp, firing into the thickets at 
random ; the Blackfeet had a better sight at their 
adversaries, who were in the open field, and a 
half-breed was wounded in the shoulder. 

"VYhen Captain Sublette arrived, he urged to 
penetrate the swamp and storm the fort, but all 
hung back in awe of the dismal horrors of 
the place, and the danger of attacking such des- 
peradoes in their savage den. The very Indian 
allies, though accustomed to bush-fighting, re- 
garded it as almost impenetrable, and full of 
frightful danger. Sublette was not to be turned 
from his purpose, but offered to lead the way into 
the swamp. Campbell stepped forward to accom- 
pany him. Before entering the perilous wood, 
Sublette took his brothers aside, and told them 
that in case he fell, Campbell, who knew his will, 
was to be his executor. This done, he grasped 



ATTACK ON THE INDIAN FORT. 93 

his rifle and pushed into the tliickets, followed by 
Campbell. Sinclair, the partisan from Arkansas, 
was at the edge of the wood with his brother and 
a few of his men. Excited by the gallant exam- 
ple of the two friends, he pressed forward to 
share their dangers. 

The swamp was produced by the labors of the 
beaver, which, by damming up a stream, had in- 
undated a portion of the valley. The place was 
all overgrown with woods and thickets, so closely 
matted and entangled, that it was impossible to 
see ten paces ahead, and the three associates in 
peril had to crawl along, one after another, mak- 
ing their way by putting the branches and vines 
aside ; but doing it with caution, lest they should 
attract the eye of some lurking marksman. They 
took the lead by turns, each advancing about 
twenty yards at a time, and now and then hal- 
looing to their men to follow. Some of the latter 
gradually entered the swamp, and followed a little 
distance in their rear. 

They had now reached a more open part of 
the wood, and had glimpses of the rude fortress 
from between the trees. It was a mere breast- 
work, as we have said, of logs and branches, with 
blankets, buffalo robes, and the leathern covers of 
lodges, extended round the top as a screen. The 
movements of the leaders, as they groped their 
way, had been descried by the sharp-sighted 
enemy. As Sinclair, who was in the advance, 
was putting some branches aside, he was shot 
through the body. He fell on the spot. " Take 
me to my brother," said he to Campbell. The 



94 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

latter gave him in charge to some of the men, 
who conveyed him out of the swamjD. 

Sublette now took the advance. As he was 
reconnoitering the fort, he perceived an Indian 
peeping through an aperture. In an instant his 
rifle was levelled and discharged, and the ball 
struck the savage in the eye. AYhile he was re- 
loading, he called to Campbell, and pointed out to 
liim the hole ; " Watch that place," said he, " and 
you will soon have a fair chance for a shot." 
Scarce had he uttered the words, when a ball 
struck him in the shoulder, and almost wheeled 
him round. His first thought was to take hold 
of his arm with his other hand, and move it up 
and down. He ascertained, to his satisfaction, 
that the bone was not broken. The next moment 
he was so faint that he could not stand. CampbeU 
took him in his arms and carried him out of the 
thicket. The same shot that struck Sublette, 
wounded another man in the head. 

A brisk fire was now opened by the moun- 
taineers from the wood, answered occasionally 
from the fort. Unluckily, the trappers and their 
allies, in searching for the fort, had got scattered, 
so that Wyeth, and a number of Nez Perces, 
approached the fort on the northwest side, while 
others did the same on the opposite quarter. A 
cross-fire thus took place, which occasionally did 
mischief to friends as well as foes. An Indian 
was shot down, close to Wyeth, by a ball which, 
he was convinced, had been sped from the rifle of 
a trapper on the other side of the fort. 

The number of whites and their Indian allies, 



SPEECH OF BLACKFEET CHIEF. 95 

had by this time so much increased by arrivals 
from the rendezvous, that the Blackfeet were 
completely overmatched. They kept doggedly 
in their fort, however, making no offer of sur- 
render. An occasional jfiring uito the breastwork 
was kept up during the day. Now and then, 
one of the Indian allies, in bravado, would rush 
up to the fort, fire over the ramparts, tear off a 
buffalo robe or a scarlet blanket, and return with 
it in triumph to his comrades. Most of the savage 
garrison that fell, however, were killed in the first 
part of the attack. 

At one time it was resolved to set fire to the 
fort ; and the squaws belonging to the allies were 
employed to collect combustibles. This, however, 
was abandoned ; the Nez Perces being unwilling 
to destroy the robes and blankets, and other spoils 
of the enemy, which they felt sure would fall into 
their hands. 

The Indians, when fightmg, are prone to taunt 
and revile each other. During one of the pauses 
of the battle, the voice of the Blackfeet chief was 
heard. 

" So long," said he, " as we had powder and 
ball, we fought you in the open field : when those 
were spent, we retreated here to die with our 
women and cliildren. You may burn us in our 
fort ; but, stay by our ashes, and you who are so 
hungry for fighting, will soon have enough. 
There are four hundred lodges of our brethren 
at hand. They will soon be here — their arms 
are strong — their hearts are big — they will 
avenge us ! " 



96 BONNEVILLF? 8 ADVENTURES. 

This speech was translated two or three times 
by Nez Perce and Creole interpreters. By the 
time it was rendered into English, the chief was 
made to say, that four hundred lodges of his tribe 
were attacking the encampment at the other end 
of the valley. Every one now was for hurrying 
to the defense of the rendezvous. A party was 
left to keep watch upon the fort ; the rest galloped 
off to the camp. As night came on, the trappers 
drew out of the swamp, and remained about the 
skirts of the wood. By morning, their com- 
panions returned from the rendezvous, with the 
report that all was safe. As the day opened, they 
ventured within the swamp and apj)roached the 
fort. All was silent. They advanced up to it 
without opposition. They entered : it had been 
abandoned in the night, and the Blackfeet had 
effected then- retreat, carrying off their wounded 
on litters made of branches, leaving bloody traces 
on the herbage. The bodies of ten Indians were 
found within the fort ; among them the one shot in 
the eye by Sublette. The Blackfeet afterwards 
reported that they had lost twenty-six warriors in 
this battle. Thirty-two horses were likewise 
found killed ; among them were some of those 
recently carried off from Sublette's party, in the 
night ; which showed that these were the very 
savages that had attacked him. They proved to 
be an advance party of the main body of Black- 
feet, which had been upon the trail of Sublette's 
party. Five white men and one half-breed were 
killed, and several wounded. Seven of the Nez 
Percys were also killed, and six wounded. They 



DEVOTION OF A SQUAW. 07 

had an old chief, who was reputed as invulnerable. 
In the course of the action he was hit by a spent 
ball, and threw up blood ; but his skin was un- 
broken. His people were now fully convinced 
that he was proof against powder and ball. 

A striking circumstance is related as having 
occurred the morning after the battle. As some 
of the trappers and their Indian allies were ap- 
proaching the fort, through the woods, they be- 
held an Indian woman, of noble form and features, 
leaning against a tree. Their surprise at her 
lingering here alone, to foil into the hands of her 
enemies, was dispelled, when they saw the corpse 
of a warrior at her feet. Either she was so lost 
in grief as not to perceive their approach , or a 
proud spirit kept her silent and motionless. The 
Indians set up a yell, on discovering her, and 
before the trappers could interfere, her mangled 
body fell upon the corpse which she had refused 
to abandon. We have heard this anecdote 
discredited by one of the leaders who had 
been in the battle : but the fact may have taken 
place without his seeing it, and been concealed 
from him. It is an instance of female devotion, 
even to the death, which we are well disposed to 
believe and to record. 

After the battle, the brigade of Milton Sublette, 
together with the free trappers, and Wyeth's New 
England band, remained some days at the rendez- 
vous, to see if the main body of Blackfeet intended 
to make an attack ; nothing of the kind occurring, 
they once more put themselves in motion, and 
proceeded on their route towards the southwest. 



98 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

Captain Sublette having distributed his supplies, 
had intended to set off on his return to St. Louis, 
taking with him the peltries collected from the 
trappers and Indians. His wound, however, 
obliged him to postpone his departure. Several 
who were to have accompanied him, became im- 
patient of this delay. Among these was a young 
Bostonian, Mr. Joseph More, one of the followers 
of Mr. Wyeth, who had seen enough of mountain 
life and savage warfare, and was eager to return 
to the abodes of civilization. He and six others, 
among whom were a Mr. Foy, of Mississippi, 
Mr. Alfred K. Stephens, of St. Louis, and two 
grandsons of the celebrated Daniel Boon, set out 
together, in advance of Sublette's jDarty, thinking 
they would make their own way through the 
mountains. 

It was just five days after the battle of the 
swamp, that these seven companions were making 
their way through Jackson's Hole, a valley not 
far from the three Tetons, when, as they were de- 
scending a hill, a party of Blackfeet that lay in 
ambush started up with terrific yells. The horse 
of the young Bostonian, who was in front, wheeled 
round with affright, and threw his unskillful rider. 
The young man scrambled up the side of the hill, 
but, unaccustomed to such wild scenes, lost his 
presence of mind, and stood, as if paralyzed, on 
the edge of a bank, until the Blackfeet came up 
and slew him on the spot. His comrades had fled 
on the first alarm ; but two of them, Foy and 
Stephens, seeing his danger, paused when they 
had got half way up the hill, turned back, dis- 



SUBLETTE'S CARAVAN. 99 

mounted, and hastened to his assistance. Foy 
was instantly killed. Stephens was severely 
wounded, but escaped, to die five days afterwards. 
The survivors returned to the camp of Captain 
Sublette, bringing tidings of this new disaster. 
That hardy leader, as soon as he could bear the 
journey, set out on his return to St. Louis, ac- 
companied by Campbell. As they had a number 
of pack-horses richly laden with peltries to convoy, 
they chose a different route through the moun- 
tains, out of the way, as they hoped, of the lurk- 
ing bands of Blackfeet. They succeeded in mak- 
ing the frontier in safety. We remember to have 
seen them with their band, about two or three 
months afterwards, passing through a skirt of 
woodland in the upper part of Missouri. Their 
long cavalcade stretched in single file for nearly 
half a mile. Sublette still wore his arm in a sling. 
The mountaineers in their rude hunting dresses, 
armed with rifles, and roughly mounted, and lead- 
ing their pack-horses down a hill of the forest, 
looked like banditti returning with plunder. On 
the top of some of the packs were perched several 
half-breed children, perfect little imps, with wild 
black eyes glaring from among elf locks. These, 
I was told, were children of the trappers : pledges 
of love from their squaw spouses in the wilder- 
ness. 



L.of 



^ 




CHAPTER VII. 

Retreat of the Blackfeet. — Fontenelle's camp in danger. — 
Captain Bonneville and the Blackfeet. — Free trappers — 
their character, habits, dress, equipments, horses. — Game 
fellows of the mountains — their visit to the camp. — Good 
fellowship and good cheer. — A carouse. — A swagger, 
a brawl, and a reconciliation. 

HE Blackfeet warriors, when they ef- 
fected their midnight retreat from their 
wild fastness in Pierre's Hole, fell back 
into the valley of the Seeds-ke-dee, or Green 
River, where they joined the main body of their 
band. The whole force amounted to several hun- 
dred fighting men, gloomy and exasperated by 
their late disaster. They had with them their 
wives and children, which incapacitated them for 
any bold and extensive enterprise of a warlike na- 
ture ; but when, in the course of their wander- 
ings, they came in sight of the encampment of 
Fontenelle, who had moved some distance up 
Green River Valley in search of the free trappers, 
they put up tremendous war-cries, and advanced 
fiercely as if to attack it. Second thoughts 
caused them to moderate their fury. They rec- 
ollected the severe lesson just received, and 
could not but remark the strength of Fontenelle's 
position ; which had been chosen with great judg- 
ment. 



BLACKFEET VISIT BONNEVILLE. 101 

A formal talk ensued. The Blackfeet said 
nothing of the late battle, of which Fontenelle 
had as yet received no accounts ; the latter, how- 
ever, knew the hostile and perfidious nature of 
these savages, and took care to inform them of 
the encampment of Captain Bonneville, that they 
might know there were more white men in the 
neighborhood. 

The conference ended, Fontenelle sent a Dela- 
ware Indian of his party to conduct fifteen of the 
Blackfeet to the camp of Captain Bonneville. 
There were at that time two Crow Indians in the 
captain's camp, who had recently arrived there. 
They looked with dismay at this deputation from 
their implacable enemies, and gave the Captain a 
terrible character of them, assuring him that the 
best thing he could possibly do, was to put those 
Blackfeet deputies to death on the spot. The 
captain, however, who had heard nothing of the 
conflict at Pierre's Hole, declined all compliance 
with this sage counsel. He treated the grim 
warriors with his usual urbanity. They passed 
some little time at the camp ; saw, no doubt, that 
everything was conducted with military skill and 
vigilance ; and that such an enemy was not to be 
easily surprised, nor to be molested with impu- 
nity, and then departed, to report all that they 
had seen to their comrades. 

The two scouts which Captain Bonneville had 
sent out to seek for the band of free trappers, ex- 
pected by Fontenelle, and to invite them to his 
camp, had been successful in their search, and on 
the 12th of August those worthies made their ap- 



102 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

pearance. To explain the meaning of the appel- 
lation, free trapper, it is necessary to state the 
terms on which the men enlist in the service of 
the fur companies. Some have regular wages, 
and are furnished with weapons, horses, traps, 
and other requisites. These are under command, 
and bound to do every duty required of them 
connected with the service ; such as hunting, trap- 
ping, loading and unloading the horses, mounting 
guard; and, in short, all the drudgery of the 
camp. These are the hired trappers. 

The free trappers are a more independent 
class ; and in describing them, we shall do little 
\J more than transcribe the graphic description of 
them by Captain Bonneville. " They come and 
go," says he, '• when and where they please ; 
provide their own horses, arms, and other equip- 
ments ; trap and trade on their own account, and 
dispose of their skins and peltries to the highest 
bidder. Sometimes, in a dangerous hunting 
ground, they attach themselves to the camp of 
some trader for protection. Here they come un- 
der some restrictions ; they have to conform to 
the ordinary rules for trapping, and to submit to 
such restraints, and to take part in such general 
duties, as are established for the good order and 
safety of the camp. In return for this protec- 
tion, and for their camp keeping, they are bound 
to dispose of all the beaver they take, to the tra- 
der who commands the camp, at a certain rate 
per skin ; or, should they prefer seeking a mar- 
ket elsewhere, they are to make him an allow- 
ance, of from thirty to forty dollars for the whole 
hunt. 



FREE TRAPPERS. 103 

There is au inferior order, who, either from 
prudence or poverty, come to these dangerous 
hunting grounds without horses or accoutrements, 
and are furnished by the traders. These, like the 
hired trappers, are bound to exert themselves to 
the utmost in taking beaver, which, without skin- 
ning, they render in at the trader's lodge, where a 
stipulated price for each is placed to their credit. 
These, though generally included in the generic 
name of free trappers, have the more specific title 
of skin trappers. 

The wandering whites who mingle for any 
length of time with the savages, have invariably a 
proneness to adopt savage habitudes ; but none 
more so than the free trappers. It is a matter of 
vanity and ambition with them to discard every- 
thing that may bear the stamp of civilized life, 
and to adopt the manners, habits, dress, gesture, 
and even walk of the Indian. You cannot pay 
a free trapper a greater compliment, than to per- 
suade him you have mistaken him for an Indian 
brave ; and, in truth, the counterfeit is complete. 
His hair, suffered to attain to a great length, is 
carefully combed out, and either left to fall care- 
lessly over his shoulders, or plaited neatly and 
tied up in otter skins, or parti-colored ribbons. 
A hunting-shirt of ruffled calico of bright dyes, 
or of ornamented leather, falls to his knee ; be- 
low which, curiously fashioned leggins, orna- 
mented with strings, fringes, and a profusion of 
hawks' bells, reach to a costly pair of moccasins 
of the finest Indian fabric, richly embroidered 
with beads. A blanket of scarlet, or some other 



104 BONNEVILLrS ADVENTURES, 

bright color, hangs from his shoulders, and is 
girt round his waist with a red sash, in which 
he bestows his pistols, knife, and the stem of his 
Indian pipe ; preparations either for peace or 
war. His gun is lavishly decorated with brass 
tacks and vermilion, and provided with a fringed 
cover, occasionally of buckskin, ornamented here 
and there with a feather. His horse, the noble 
minister to the pride, pleasure, and profit of the 
mountaineer, is selected for his speed and spirit, 
and prancing gait, and holds a place in his esti- 
mation second only to himself. He shares 
largely of his bounty, and of his pride and pomp 
of trapping. He is caparisoned in the most dash- 
ing and fantastic style ; the bridles and crupper 
are weightily embossed with beads and cockades ; 
and head, mane, and tail are interwoven with 
abundance of eagles' plumes, which flutter in the 
wind. To complete this grotesque equipment, 
the proud animal is bestreaked and bespotted 
with vermilion, or with white clay, whichever 
presents the most glaring contrast to his real 
color. 

Such is the account given by Captain Bonne- 
ville of these rangers of the wilderness, and their 
appearance at the camp was strikingly character- 
istic. They came dashing forward at full speed, 
firing their fusees, and yelling in Indian style. 
Their dark sunburnt faces, and long flowing hair, 
their leggings, flaps, moccasins, and richly-dyed 
blankets, and their painted horses gaudily capari- 
soned, gave them so much tlie air and appearance 
of Indians, that it was difficult to persuade one's 



VISIT OF THE FREE TRAPPERS. 105 

self that they were white men, and had been 
brought up in civilized life. 

Captain Bonneville, who was delighted with 
the game look of these cavaliers of the mountains, 
welcomed them heartily to his camp, and ordered 
a free allowance of grog to regale them, wliich 
soon put them in the most braggart spirits. 
They pronounced the captain the finest fellow in 
the world, and his men all bons gargons, jovial 
lads, and swore they would pass the day with 
them. They did so ; and a day it was, of boast, 
swagger, and rodomontade. The prime bullies 
and braves among tlie free trappers had each his 
circle of novices, from among the captain's band ; 
mere greenhorns, men unused to Indian life ; 
mangeurs de lard, or pork eaters ; as such new- 
comers are superciliously called by the veterans 
of the wilderness. These he would astonish and 
delight by the hour, with prodigious tales of his 
doings among tiie Indians ; and of the wonders 

op ' 

he had seen, and the wonders he had performed, 
in his adventurous peregrinations among the 
mountains. 

In the evening, the free trappers drew off, and 
returned to the camp of Fontenelle, highly de- 
lighted with their visit and with their new acquain- 
tances, and promising to return the following day. 
They kept their word : day after day their visits 
were repeated ; they became " hail fellow well 
met " with Captain Bonneville's men ; treat after 
treat succeeded, until both parties got most po- 
tently convinced, or rather confounded, by liquor. 
Now came on confusion and uproar. The free 



106 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

trappers were no longer suffered to have all the 
swagger to themselves. The camp bullies and 
prime trappers of the party began to ruffle up, 
and to brag, in turn, of their perils and achieve- 
ments. Each now tried to out-boast and out- 
talk the other ; a quarrel ensued as a matter of 
course, and a general fight, according to frontier 
usage. The two factions drew out their forces 
for a pitched battle. They fell to work and be- 
labored each other with might and main ; kicks 
and cuffs and dry blows were as well bestowed as 
they were well merited, until, having fought to 
their hearts' content, and been drubbed into a fa- 
miliar acquaintance with each other's prowess and 
good qualities, they ended the fight by becoming 
firmer friends than they could have been rendered 
by a year's peaceable companionship. 

While Captain Bonneville amused himself by 
observing the habits and characteristics of this 
singular class of men, and indulged them, for the 
time, in all their vagaries, he profited by the op- 
portunity to collect from them information con- 
cei'ning the different parts of the country about 
which they had been accustomed to range ; the 
characters of the tribes, and, in short, every thing 
important to his enterprise. He also succeeded 
in securing the services of several to guide and 
aid him in his peregrinations among the moun- 
tains, and to trap for him during the ensuing sea- 
son. Having strengthened his party with such 
valuable recruits, he felt in some measure con- 
soled for the loss of the Delaware Indians, de- 
coyed from him by Mr. Fontenelle. 




CHAPTER VIII. 

Plans for the Avinter. — Salmon River. — Abundance of sal- 
mon west of the mountains. — New arrangements. — 
Caches. — Cerr^'s detachment. — Movements in Fonte- 
nelle's camp. — Departure of the Blackfeet — their for- 
tunes. — Wind Mountain streams. — Buckeye, the Dela- 
ware hunter, and the grizzly bear. — Bones of murdered 
travellers. — Visit to Pierre's Hole. — Traces of the battle. 
— Nez Perce Indians. — Arrival at Salmon River. 

HE information derived from the free 
trappers determined Captain Bonneville 
as to his further movements. He learnt 
that in the Green River Valley the winters were 
severe, the snow frequently falling to the depth 
of several feet ; and that there was no good win- 
tering ground in the neighborhood. The upper 
part of Salmon River was represented as far 
more eligible, besides being in an excellent bea- 
ver country ; and thither the captain resolved to 
bend his course. 

The Salmon River is one of the upper branches 
of the Oregon or Columbia ; and takes its rise 
from various sources, among a group of moun- 
tains to the northwest of the Wind River chain. 
It owes its name to the immense shoals of salmon 
which ascend it in the months of September and 
October. The salmon on the west side of the 



108 B ONNE VILLr S AD VEN TURKS. 

Kocky Mountains are, like the buffalo on the 
eastern plains, vast migratory supplies for the 
wants of man, that come and go with the seasons. 
As the buffalo in countless throngs find their cer- 
tain way in the transient pasturage on the prairies, 
along the fresh banks of the rivers, and up every 
valley and green defile of the mountains, so the 
salmon, at their allotted seasons, regulated by a 
sublime and all-seeing Providence, swarm in 
myriads up the great rivers, and find their way 
up their main branches, and into the minutest 
tributary streams ; so as to pervade the great 
arid plains, and to penetrate even among barren 
mountains. Thus wandering tribes are fed in 
the desert places of the wilderness, where there is 
no herbage for the animals of the chase, and 
where, but for these periodical supplies, it would 
be impossible for man to subsist. 

The rapid currents of the rivers which run 
into the Pacific render the ascent of them xery 
exhausting to the salmon. When the fish first 
run up the rivers, they are fat and in fine order. 
The struggle against impetuous streams and fre- 
quent rapids gradually renders them thin and 
weak, and great numbers are seen floating down 
the rivers on their backs. As the season ad- 
vances and the water becomes chilled, they are 
flung in myriads on the shores, where the wolves 
and bears assemble to banquet on them. Often 
they rot in such quantities along the river banks, 
as to taint the atmosphere. They are commonly 
from two to three feet long. 

Captain Bonneville now made his arrange- 



ARRANGEMENTS FOR WINTER. 100 

nients for the autumn and the winter. The na- 
ture of the country through which he was about 
to travel rendered it impossible to proceed with 
wagons. He had more goods and supplies of 
various kinds, also, than were required for pres- 
ent purposes, or than could be conveniently trans- 
ported on horseback; aided, therefore, by a few 
contidential men, he made caches, or secret pits, 
during the night, when all the rest of the camp 
were asleep, and in these deposited the superflu- 
ous effects, together with the wagons. All traces 
of the caches were then carefully obliterated. 
This is a common expedient with the traders and 
trappers of the mountains. Having no estab- 
lished posts and magazines, they make these 
caches or deposits at certain points, whither they 
repair occasionally, for supplies. It is an expe- 
dient derived from the wandering tribes of In- 
dians. 

Many of the horses were still so weak and 
lame as to be unfit for a long scramble through 
the mountains. These were collected into one 
cavalcade, and given in charge to an experienced 
trapper, of the name of Matthieu. He was to 
proceed westward, with a brigade of trappers, to 
Bear River ; a stream to the west of the Green 
River or Colorado, where there was good pas- 
turage for the horses. In this neighborhood it 
w^as expected he would meet the Shoshonie vil- 
lages or bands,^ on their yearly migrations, with 

1 A village of Indians, in trappers' language, does not always 
imply a fixed community; but often a wandering horde or 
band. The Shoshouies, like most of the mountain tribes, 



110 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

whom he was to trade for peltries and provisions. 
After he had traded with these people, finished 
his trappings, and recruited the strength of the 
horses, he was to proceed to Salmon River and 
rejoin Captain Bonneville, who intended to fix 
his quarters there for the winter. 

While these arrangements were in progress 
in the camp of Captain Bonneville, there was a 
sudden bustle and stir in the camp of Fontenelle. 
One of the partners of the American Fur Com- 
pany had arrived, in all haste, from the rendez- 
vous at Pierre's Hole, in quest of the supplies. 
The competition between the two rival companies 
was just now at its height, and prosecuted with un- 
usual zeal. The tramontane concerns of the 
Rocky Mountain Fur Company were managed by 
two resident partners, Fitzpatrick and Bridger ; 
those of the American Fur Company, by Vander- 
burgh and Dripps. The latter were ignorant of 
the mountain regions, but trusted to make up by 
vigilance and activity for their want of knowledge 
of the country. 

Fitzpatrick, an experienced trader and trapper, 
knew the evils of competition in the same hunting 
grounds, and had proposed that the two compa- 
nies should divide the country, so as to hunt in 
different directions : this proposition being re- 
jected, he had exerted himself to get first into 
the field. His exertions, as has already been 
shown, were effectual. The early arrival of 

have no settled residences ; but are a nomadic people, dwell- 
ing in tents or lodges, and shifting their encampments from 
place to place, according as fish and game abound. 



DEPARTURE OF RIVAL COMPANIES. Ill 

Sublette, with supplies, had enabled the various 
brigades of the Rocky Mountain Company to 
start oflf to their respective hunting grounds. 
Fitzpatrick himself, with hs associate, Bridger, 
had pushed off with a strong party of trappers, 
for a prime beaver country to the north-north- 
west. 

This had put Vanderburgh upon his mettle. 
He had hastened on to meet Fontenelle. Find- 
ing him at his camp in Green River Valley, he 
immediately furnished himself with the supplies; 
put himself at the head of the free trappers and 
Delawares, and set off with all speed, determined 
to follow hard upon the heels of Fitzpatrick and 
Bridger. Of the adventures of these parties 
among the mountains, and the disastrous effects 
of their competition, we shall have occasion to 
treat in a future chapter. 

Fontenelle having now delivered his supplies 
and accomplished his errand, struck his tents and 
set off on his return to the Yellowstone. Captain 
Bonneville and his band, therefore, remained 
alone in the Green River Valley ; and their sit- 
uation might have been perilous, had the Black- 
feet band still lingered in the vicinity. Those 
marauders, however, had been dismayed at find- 
ing so many resolute and well-appointed parties 
of white men in this neighborhood. They had, 
therefore, abandoned this part of the country, 
passing over the head waters of the Green River, 
and bending their course towards the Yellow- 
stone. Misfortune pursued them. Their route 
lay through the country of their deadly enemies, 



J 



112 B ONNE VILLE' S AD VEX T URES. 

the Crows. In the Wind River Valley, which 
lies east of the mountains, they were encountered 
by a powerful war party of that tribe, and com- 
pletely put to rout. Forty of them were killed, 
many of their women and children captured, and 
the scattered fugitives hunted like wild beasts, 
until they were completely chased out of the 
Crow country. 

On the 22d of August Captain Bonneville 
broke up his camp, and set out on his route for 
Salmon River. His baggage was arranged in 
packs, three to a mule, or pack-horse ; one being 
disposed on each side of the animal, and one on the 
top ; the three forming a load of from one hun- 
dred and eighty to two hundred and twenty 
pounds. This is the trappers' style of loading 
their pack-horses ; his men, however, were in- 
expert at adjusting the packs ; whicli were prone 
to get loose and slip off; so that it was necessary 
to keep a rear-guard to assist in reloading. A 
few days' experience, however, brought them into 
proper training. 

Their march lay up the valley of the Seeds- 
ke-dee, overlooked to the right by the lofty peaks 
of the Wind River Mountains. From bright 
little lakes and fountain-heads of this remarkable 
bed of mountains, poured forth the tributary 
streams of the Seeds-ke-dee. Some came rush- 
ing down gullies and ravines ; others tumbling 
in crystal cascades from inaccessible clefts and 
rocks, and others winding their way in rapid and 
pellucid currents across the valley, to throw 
themselves into the main river. So transparent 



BUCKEYE AND THE BEAR. 113 

were these waters, that the trout with which they 
abounded could be seen gliding about as if in 
the air ; and their pebbly beds were distinctly 
visible at the depth of many feet. This beautiful 
and diaphanous quality of the Rocky Mountain 
streams, prevails for a long time after they have 
mingled their waters and swollen into important 
rivers. 

Issuing from the upper part of the valley, 
Captain Bonneville continued to the east-north- 
east, across rough and lofty ridges, and deep 
rocky defiles, extremely fatiguing both to man 
and horse. Among his hunters was a Delaware 
Indian who had remained faithful to him. His 
name was Buckeye. He had often prided him- 
self on his skill and success in coping with the 
grizzly bear, that terror of the hunters. Though 
crippled in the left arm, he declared he had no 
hesitation to close with a wounded bear, and 
attack him with a sword. If armed with a rifle, 
he was willing to brave the animal when in full 
force and fury. He had twice an opportunity 
of proving his prowess, in the course of this 
mountain journey, and was each time successful. 
His mode was to seat himself upon the ground, 
with his rifle cocked and resting on his lame arm. 
Thus prepared, he would await the approach of 
the bear with perfect coolness, nor pull trigger 
until he was close at hand. In each instance, he 
laid the monster dead upon the spot. 

A march of three or four days, through savage 
and lonely scenes, brought Captain Bonneville to 
the fatal defile of Jackson's Hole, where poor 



114 B ONNE VILLE-S AD VEN T URES. 

More and Foy had been surprised and murdered 
by the Blackfeet. The feelings of the captain 
were shocked at beholding the bones of these un- 
fortunate young men bleaching among the rocks ; 
and he caused them to be decently interred. 

On the third of September he arrived on the 
summit of a mountain which commanded a full 
view of the eventful valley of Pierre's Hole ; 
whence he could trace the winding of its stream 
through green meadows and forests of willow 
and cotton-wood, and have a prospect, between 
distant mountains, of the lava plains of Snake 
River, dimly spread forth like a sleeping ocean 
below. 

After enjoying this magnificent prospect, he 
descended into the valley, and visited the scenes 
of the late desperate conflict. There were the 
remains of the rude fortress in the swamp, shat- 
tered by rifle shot, and strewed with the mingled 
bones of savages and horses. There was the late 
populous and noisy rendezvous, with the traces 
of trappers' camps and Indian lodges ; but their 
fires were extinguished, the motley assemblage 
of trappers and hunters, white traders and Indian 
braves, had all dispersed to different points of the 
wilderness, and the valley had relapsed into its 
pristine solitude and silence. 

That night the captain encamped upon the 
battle ground ; tlie next day he resumed his toil- 
some peregrinations through the mountains. For 
upwards of two weeks he continued his painful 
march ; both men and horses suffering excess- 
ively at times from hunger and thirst. At length, 



FALSE ALARM. 115 

on the 19th of September, he reached the upper 
waters of Salmon River. 

The weather was cold, and there were symp- 
toms of an impending storm. The night set in, 
but Buckeye, the Delaware Indian, was missing. 
He had left the party early in the morning, to 
hunt by himself, according to his custom. Fears 
were entertained lest he should lose his way 
and become bewildered in tempestuous weather. 
These fears increased on the following morning, 
when a violent snow-storm came on, which soon 
covered the earth to the depth of several inches. 
Captain Bonneville immediately encamped, and 
sent out scouts in every direction. After some 
search Buckeye was discovered, quietly seated at 
a considerable distance in the rear, waiting the 
expected approach of the party, not knowing that 
they had passed, the snow having covered their 
trail. 

On the ensuing morning they resumed their 
march at an early hour, but had not proceeded 
far when the hunters, who were beating up the 
country in the advance, came galloping back, mak- 
ing signals to encamp, and crying Indians ! Indians ! 

Captain Bonneville immediately struck into a 
skirt of wood and prepared for action. The sav- 
ages were now seen ti'ooping over the hills in 
great numbers. One of them left the main body 
and came forward singly, making signals of peace. 
He announced them as a band of Nez Perces^ 

1 We should observe that this tribe is universally called by 
its French name, which is pronounced by the trappers, Ne- 
percy. There are two main branches of this tribe, the upper 
Nepercys and the lower Nepercys, as we shall show hereafter. 



\J 



116 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

or Pierced-nosed Indians, friendly to the whites, 
whereupon an invitation was returned by Captain 
Bonneville, for them to come and encamp with 
him. They halted for a short time to make 
their toilette, an operation as important with an 
Indian warrior as with a fashionable beauty. 
This done, they arranged themselves in martial 
style, the chiefs leading the van, the braves fol- 
lowing in a long line, painted and decorated, and 
topped off with fluttering plumes. In this way 
they advanced, shouting and singing, firing off 
their fusees, and clashing their shields. The 
two parties encamped hard by each other. The 
Nez Perces were on a hunting expedition, but 
had been almost famished on their march. They 
had no provisions left but a few dried salmon, yet 
finding the white men equally in want, they gen- 
erously offered to share even this meagre pittance, 
and frequently repeated the offer, with an ear- 
nestness that left no doubt of their sincerity. 
Their generosity won the heart of Captain Bon- 
neville, and produced the most cordial good-will 
on the part of his men. For two days that the 
parties remained in company, the most amicable 
intercourse prevailed, and they parted the best of 
friends. Captain Bonneville detached a few men, 
under Mr. Cerre, an able leader, to accompany 
the Nez Perces on their hunting expedition, and 
to trade with them for meat for the winter's 
supply. After this, he proceeded down the river 
about five miles below the forks, when he came 
to a halt on the 26th of September, to establish 
his winter quarters. 




CHAPTER IX. 

Horses turned loose. — Preparations for winter quarters. — 
Hungr}' times. — Nez Perces, their honesty, piety, pacific 
habits, religious ceremonies. — Captain Bonneville's con- 
versations with them. — Their love of gambling. 

T was gratifying to Captain Bonneville, 
ifter so long and toilsome a course of 
travel, to relieve his poor jaded horses 
of the burdens under which they were almost 
ready to give out, and to behold them rolling 
upon the grass, and taking a long repose after all 
their sufferings. Indeed, so exhausted were they, 
that those employed under the saddle were no 
longer capable of hunting for the daily subsis- 
tence of the camp. 

All hands now set to work to prepare a win- 
ter cantonment. A temporary fortification was 
thrown up for the protection of the party ; a 
secure and comfortable pen, into which the horses 
could be driven at night ; and huts were built 
for the reception of the merchandise. 

This done. Captain Bonneville made a distri- 
bution of his forces : twenty men were to remain 
with liim in garrison to protect the property ; the 
rest were organized into three brigades, and sent 
off in different directions, to subsist themselves by 



118 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

hunting the buffalo, until the snow should become 
too deep. 

Indeed, it would have been impossible to pro- 
vide for the whole party in this neighborhood. 
It was at the extreme western limit of the buf- 
falo range, and these animals had recently been 
completely hunted out of the neighborhood by 
the Nez Perces, so that, although the hunters of 
the garrison were continually on the alert, rang- 
ing the country round, they brought in scarce 
game sufficient to keep famine from the door. 
Now and then there was a scanty meal of fish or 
wild fowl, occasionally an antelope ; but fre- 
quently the cravings of hunger had to be ap- 
peased with roots, or the flesh of wolves and 
muskrats. Rarely could the inmates of the can- 
tonment boast of having made a full meal, and 
never of having wherewithal for the morrow. In 
this way they starved along until the 8th of Oc- 
tober, when they were joined by a party of five 
families of Nez Perces, who in some measure 
reconciled them to the hardships of their situa- 
tion, by exhibiting a lot still more destitute. A 
more forlorn set they had never encountered : 
they had not a morsel of meat or fish ; nor any- 
thing to subsist on, excepting roots, wild rosebuds, 
the barks of certain plants, and other vegetable 
productions ; neither had they any weapon for 
hunting or defense, excepting an old spear : yet 
the poor fellows made no murmur nor complaint ; 
but seemed accustomed to their hard fare. If 
they could not teach the white men their practi- 
cal stoicism, they at least made them acquainted 



PIETY OF THE NEZ PERCES. W) 

with the edible properties of roots and wild rose- 
buds, and furnished them a supply from their own 
store. The necessities of the camp at length 
became so urgent, that Captain Bonneville de- 
termined to dispatch a party to the Horse Prairie, 
a plain to the north of his cantonment, to procure 
a supply of provisions. When the men were 
about to depart, he proposed to the Nez Perces 
that they, or some of them, should join the hunt- 
ing party. To his surprise, they promptly de- 
clined. He inquired the reason for their refusal, 
seeing that they were in nearly as starving a 
situation as his own people. They replied that 
it was a sacred day with them, and the Great 
Spirit would be angry should they devote it to 
hunting. They offered, however, to accompany 
the party if it would delay its departure until the 
following day ; but this the pinching demands of 
hunger would not permit, and the detachment 
proceeded. 

A few days afterwards, four of them signified 
to Captain Bonneville that they were about to 
hunt. " What ! " exclaimed he, " without guns 
or arrows ; and with only one old spear ? What 
do you expect to kill?" They smiled among 
themselves, but made no answer. Preparatory 
to the chase, they performed some religious rites, 
and offered up to the Great Spirit a few short 
prayers for safety and success ; then, having re- 
ceived the blessings of their wives, they leaped 
upon their horses and departed, leaving the whole 
party of Christian spectators amazed and rebuked 
by this lesson of faith and dependence on a su- 



120 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

preme and benevolent Being. " Accustomed," 
adds Captain Bonneville, " as I had heretofore 
been, to find the wretched Indian reveling in 
blood, and stained by every vice which can de- 
grade human nature, I could scarcely realize the 
scene which I had witnessed. Wonder at such 
unaffected tenderness and piety, where it was 
least to have been sought, contended in all our 
bosoms with shame and confusion, at receiving 
such pure and wholesome instructions from crea- 
tures so far below us in all the arts and comforts 
of life." The simple prayers of the poor Indians 
were not unheard. In the course of four or five 
days they returned, laden with meat. Captain 
Bonneville was curious to know how they had 
attained such success with such scanty means. 
They gave him to understand that they had 
chased the herds of buffalo at full speed, until 
they tired them down, when they easily dis- 
patched them with the spear, and made use of 
the same weapon to flay the carcasses. To carry 
through their lesson to their Christian friends, 
the poor savages were as charitable as they had 
been pious, and generously shared with them the 
spoils of their hunting ; giving them food enough 
to last for several days. 

A further and more intimate intercourse with 
this tribe gave Captain Bonneville still greater 
cause to admire their strong devotional feeling. 
" Simply to call these people religious," says he, 
" would convey but a faint idea of the deep hue 
of piety and devotion which pervades their whole 
conduct. Their honesty is imraacula,te, and their 



RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES. 121 

purity of purpose, and their observance of the 
rites of their religion, are most uniform and 
remarkable. Tliey are, certainly, more like a 
nation of saints than a horde of savages." 

In fact, the antibelligerent policy of this tribe 
may have sprung from the doctrines of Christian 
charity, for it would appear that they had im- 
bibed some notions of the Christian faith from 
Catholic missionaries and traders who had been 
among them. They even had a rude calendar of 
the fasts and festivals of the Romish Church, and 
some traces of its ceremonials. These have be- 
come blended with their own wild rites, and 
present a strange medley, civilized and bar- 
barous. On the Sabbath, men, women, and 
children array themselves in their best style, and 
assemble round a pole erected at the head of the 
camp. Here they go through a wild fantastic 
ceremonial ; strongly resembling the religious 
dance of the Shaking Quakers ; but from its 
enthusiasm, much more striking and impressive. 
During the intervals of the ceremony, the prin- 
cipal chiefs, who officiate as priests, instruct them 
in their duties, and exhort them to virtue and 
good deeds. 

" There is something antique and patriarchal," 
observes Captain Bonneville, " in this union of 
the offices of leader and priest ; as there is in 
many of their customs and manners, which are 
all strongly imbued with religion." 

The worthy captain, indeed, appears to have 
been strongly interested by this gleam of unlocked 
for light amidst the darkness of the wilderness. 



122 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

He exerted himself, during his sojourn among 
this simple and well-disposed people, to inculcate, 
as far as he was able, the gentle and humanizing 
precepts of the Christian faith, and to make them 
acquainted with the leading points of its history ; 
and it speaks highly for "the purity and benignity 
of his heart, that he derived unmixed happiness 
from the task. 

" Many a time," says he, " was my little lodge 
thronged, or rather piled with hearers, for they 
lay on the ground, one leaning over the other, 
until there was no further room, all listening 
with greedy ears to the wonders which the Great 
Spirit had revealed to the white man. No other 
subject gave them half the satisfaction, or com- 
manded half the attention ; and but few scenes 
in my life remain so freshly on my memory, or 
are so pleasurably recalled to my contemplation, 
as these hours of intercourse with a distant and 
benighted race in the midst of the desert." 

The only excesses indulged in by this temper- 
ate and exemplary people, appear to be gambling 
and horseracing. In these they engage witii an 
eagerness that amounts to infatuation. Knots of 
gamblers will assemble before one of their lodge 
fires, early in the evening, and remain absorbed 
in the chances and changes of the game until 
long after dawn of the following day. As night 
advances, they wax warmer and warmer. Bets 
increase in amount, one loss only serves to lead 
to a greater, until in the course of a single night's 
gambling, the richest chief may become the 
poorest varlet in the camp. 




CHAPTER X. 

Blackfeet in the Horse Prairie. — Search after the hunters. — 
Difficulties and dangers. — A card party in the wilderness. 
— The card party interrupted. — "Old Sledge," a losing 
game. — Visitors to the camp. — Iroquois hunters. — Hang- 
ing-eared Indians. 

N the 12th of October, two young In- 
dians of the Nez Pered tribe arrived 
at Captain Bonneville's encampment. 
They were on their way homeward, but had 
been obliged to swerve from their ordinary route 
through the mountains, by deep snows. Their 
new route took them through the Horse Prairie. 
In traversing it, they had been attracted by the 
distant smoke of a camp fire, and, on stealing 
near to reconnoitre, had discovered a war i:)arty 
of Blackfeet. They had several horses with 
them ; and, as they generally go on foot on 
warlike excursions, it was concluded that these 
horses had been captured in the course of their 
maraudings. 

Tliis intelligence awakened solicitude on the 
mind of Captain Bonneville, for the party of 
hunters whom he had sent to that neighborhood ; 
and the Nez Percys, when informed of the cir- 
cumstance, shook their heads, and declared their 



124 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

belief that the horses they had seen had been 
stolen from that very party. 

Anxious for information on the subject, Cap- 
tain Bonneville dispatched two hunters to beat 
up the country in that direction. They searched 
in vain ; not a trace of the men could be found ; 
but they got into a region destitute of game, where 
they were well-nigh famished. At one time, they 
were three entire days without a mouthful of 
food ; at length they beheld a buffalo grazing at 
the foot of a mountain. After maneuvering so 
as to get within shot, they fired, but merely 
wounded him. He took to flight, and they fol- 
lowed him over hill and dale, with the eagerness 
and perseverance of starving men. A more 
lucky shot brought him to the ground. Stanfield 
sprang upon liim, plunged his knife into his 
throat, and allayed his raging hunger by drink- 
ing his blood. A fire was instantly kindled be- 
side the carcass, when the two hunters cooked, 
and ate again and agam, until, perfectly gorged, 
they sank to sleep before their hunting fire. On 
the following morning they rose early, made an- 
other hearty meal, then loading themselves with 
buflflilo meat, set out on their return to the camp, 
to report the fruitlessness of their mission. 

At length, after six weeks' absence, the hun- 
ters made their appearance, and were received 
with joy, proportioned to the anxiety that had 
been felt on their account. They had hunted 
with success on the prairie, but, while busy dry- 
ing buffalo meat, were joined by a few panic- 
stricken Flatheads, who informed them that a 



RETURN OF THE HUNTERS. 125 

powerful band of Blackfeet were at hand. The 
hunters immediately abandoned the dangerous 
hunting ground, and accompanied the Flatheads 
to their village. Here they found Mr. Cerr^, 
and the detachment of hunters sent with him to 
accompany the hunting party of the Nez Percys. 

After remaining some time at the village, until 
they supposed the Blackfeet to have left the 
neighborhood, they set off with some of Mr. 
Cerre's men, for the cantonment of Salmon 
River, where they arrived without accident. 
They informed Captain Bonneville, however, 
that not far from his quarters, they had found a 
wallet of fresh meat and a cord, which they sup- 
jDOsed had been left by some prowling Blackfeet. 
A few days afterwards, Mr. Cerre, with the re- 
mainder of his men, likewise arrived at the can- 
tonment. 

Mr. Walker, one of the subleaders, who had 
gone with a band of twenty hunters, to range the 
country just beyond the Horse Prairie, had, like- 
wise, his share of adventures with the all-pervad- 
ing Blackfeet. At one of his encampments, the 
guard stationed to keep watch round the camp 
grew weary of their duty, and feeling a little too 
secure, and too much at home on these prairies, 
retired to a small grove of willows, to amuse 
themselves with a social game of cards, called 
"old sledge," which is as popular among these 
trampers of the prairies, as whist or ecarte among 
the polite circles of the cities. From the midst 
of their sport, they were suddenly roused by a 
discharge of fire-arms, and a shrill war-whoop. 



126 BONNEVILLPS ADVENTURES. 

Starting on their feet, and snatching up their 
rifles, they beheld in dismay their horses and 
mules already in possession of the enemy, who 
had stolen upon the camp unperceived, while 
they were spell-bound by the magic of " old 
sledge." The Indians sprang upon the animals 
barebacked, and endeavored to urge them off 
under a galling fire, that did some execution. 
The mules, however, confounded by the hurly- 
burly, and disliking their new riders, kicked up 
their heels and dismounted half of them, in spite 
of their horsemanship. This threw the rest into 
confusion ; they endeavored to protect their un- 
horsed comrades from the furious assaults of the 
whites ; but, after a scene of " confusion worse 
confounded," horses and mules were abandoned, 
and the Indians betook themselves to the bushes. 
Here they quickly scratched holes in the earth 
about two feet deep, in wliich they prostrated 
themselves, and while thus screened from the 
shots of the white men, were enabled to make 
such use of their bows and arrows and fusees as 
to repulse their assailants, and to effect their re- 
treat. This adventure threw a temporary stigma 
upon the game of " old sledge." 

In the course of the autumn, four Iroquois 
hunters, driven by the snow from their hunting 
grounds, made their appearance at the cantonment. 
They were kindly welcomed, and during their so- 
journ made themselves useful in a variety of 
ways, being excellent trappers and first-rate woods- 
men. They were of the remnants of a party of 
Iroquois hunters, that came from Canada into these 



VISIT OF PENDS OREILLES. 127 

mountain regions many years previously, in the 
employ of the Hudson's Bay Company. They 
were led by a brave chieftain, named Pierre, who 
fell by the hands of the Blackfeet, and gave his 
name to the fated valley of Pierre's Hole. This 
branch of the Iroquois tribe has ever since re- 
mained among these mountains, at mortal enmity 
with the Blackfeet, and have lost many of their 
prime hunters in their feuds with that ferocious 
race. Some of them fell in with General Ashley, 
in the course of one of his gallant excursions into 
the wilderness, and have continued ever since in 
the employ of the company. 

Among the motley visitors to the winter 
quarters of Captain Bonneville, was a party of 
Pends Oreilles (or Hanging-ears) and their chief. 
These Indians have a strong resemblance, in 
character and customs, to the Nez Perces. They 
amount to about three hundred lodges, and are 
well armed, and possess great numbers of horses. 
During the spring, summer, and autumn they 
hunt the buffiilo about the head waters of the Mis- 
souri, Henry's Fork of the Snake River, and the 
northern branches of Salmon River. Their winter 
quarters are upon the Racine Amere, where they 
subsist upon roots and dried buffalo meat. Upon 
this river the Hudson's Bay Company have estab- 
lished a trading post, where the Pends Oreilles 
and the Flatheads bring their peltries to exchange 
for arms, clothing, and trinkets. 

This tribe, like the Nez Perces, evince strong 
and peculiar feelings of natural piety. Their 
religion is not a mere superstitious fear, like that 



128 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

of most savages ; they evince abstract notions of 
morality, a deep reverence for an overruling 
Spirit, and a respect for the rights of their fellow- 
men. In one respect, their religion partakes of 
the pacific doctrines of the Quakers. They hold 
that the Great Spirit is disjDleased with all nations 
who wantonly engage in war; they abstain, there- 
fore, from all ao^o^ressive hostilities. But thous^h 

> GTS O 

thus unoffenduig in their policy, they are called 
upon continually to wage defensive warfare, 
especially with the Blackfeet ; with whom, in the 
course of their hunting expeditions, they come in 
frequent collision, and have desjDerate battles. 
Their conduct as warriors is without fear or re- 
proach, and they can never be driven to abandon 
their hunting grounds. 

Like most savages, they are firm believers in 
dreams, and in the power and efficacy of charms 
and amulets, or medicines, as they term them. 
Some of their braves, also, who have had numer- 
ous hair-breadth 'scapes, like the old Nez Perce 
chief in the battle of Pierre's Hole, are believed 
to wear a charmed life, and to be bullet proof. 
Of these gifted beings marvelous anecdotes are 
related, which are most potently believed by their 
fellow-savages, and sometimes almost credited by 
the white hunters. 




CHAPTER XL 

Rival trapping parties. — Maneuvering. — A desperate game. 
— Vanderburgh and the Blackfeet. — Deserted camp fire. — 
A dark defile. — An Indian ambush. — A fierce melee. — 
Fatal consequences. — Fitzpatrick and Bridger. — Trappers' 
precautions. — Meeting with the Blackfeet. — More fight- 
ing. — Anecdote of a young Mexican and an Indian girl. 

IHILE Captain Bonneville and his men 
are sojourning among the Nez Perces, 
on Salmon River, we will inquire after 
the fortunes of those doughty rivals of the Rocky 
Mountains and American Fur Companies, who 
started off for the trapping grounds to the north- 
northwest. 

Fitzpatrick and Bridger, of the former company, 
as we have already shown, having received their 
supplies, had taken the lead, and hoped to have the 
first sweep of the hunting ground. Vanderburgh 
and Dripps, however, the two resident partners 
of the opposite company, by extraordinary exer- 
tions, were enabled soon to put themselves upon 
their traces, and pressed forward with such speed 
as to overtake them just as they had reached the 
heart of the beaver country. In fact, being ig- 
norant of the best trapping grounds, it was their 
object to follow on and profit by the superior 
knowledge of the other party. 



130 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

Nothing could equal the chagrm of Fitzpatrick 
and Bridger, at being dogged by their inexperi- 
enced rivals ; especially after their offer to divide 
the country with them. They tried in every way to 
blind and baffle them ; to steal a march upon them, 
or lead them on a wrong scent ; but all in vain. 
Vanderburgh made up by activity and intelligence, 
for his ignorance of the country ; was always wary, 
always on the alert ; discovered every movement 
of his rivals, however secret, and was not to be 
eluded or misled. 

Fitzpatrick and his colleague now lost all 
patience : since the others persisted in following 
them, they determined to give them an unprofit- 
able chase, and to sacrifice the hunting season, 
rather than share the products with their rivals. 
They accordingly took up their line of march down 
the course of the Missouri, keeping the main 
Blackfoot trail, and tramping doggedly forward, 
without stopping to set a single trap. The others 
beat the hoof after them for some time, but by 
degrees began to perceive that they were on a 
wild-goose chase, and getting into a country per- 
fectly barren to the trapper. They now came to 
a halt, and bethought themselves how to make up 
for lost time, and improve the remainder of the 
season. It was thought best to divide their forces 
and try different trapping grounds. Wliile Dripps 
went in one direction, Vanderburgh, with about 
fifty men, proceeded in another. The latter, in 
his headlong march, had got into the very heart 
of the Blackfoot country, yet seems to have been 
unconscious of his danger. As his scouts were 



BLACKFOOT AMBUSH. 131 

out one day, they came upon the traces of a recent 
band of savages. There were the deserted fires 
still smoking, surrounded by the carcasses of 
buffaloes just killed. It was evident a party of 
Blackfeet had been frightened from their hunting 
camp, and had retreated, probably to seek reinforce- 
ments. The scouts hastened back to the camp, 
and told Vanderburgh what they had seen. He 
made light of the alarm, and, taking nine men with 
him, galloped off to reconnoitre for himself. He 
found the deserted hunting camp just as they had 
represented it ; there lay the carcasses of buffa- 
loes, partly dismembered ; there were the smoulder- 
ing fires, still sending up their wreaths of smoke ; 
everything bore traces of recent and hasty retreat ; 
and gave reason to believe that the savages were 
still lurking in the neighborhood. With heedless 
daring, Vanderburgh put himself upon their trail, 
to trace them to their place of concealment. It 
led him over prairies, and through skirts of wood- 
land, until it entered a dark and dangerous ravine. 
Vanderburgh pushed in, without hesitation, fol- 
lowed by his little band. They soon found them- 
selves in a gloomy dell, between steep banks over- 
hung with trees ; where the profound silence was 
only broken by the tramp of their own horses. 
Suddenly the horrid war-whoop burst on their 
ears, mingled with the sharp report of rifles, and 
a legion of savages sprang from their conceal- 
ments, yelling, and shaking their buffiilo robes to 
frighten the horses. Vanderburgh's horse fell, 
mortally wounded by the first discharge. In his 
fall, he pmned liis rider to the ground ; who 



132 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

called in vain upon his men to assist in extricat- 
ing him. One was shot down and scalped a few 
paces distant ; most of the others were severely 
wounded, and sought their safety in flight. The 
savages approached to dispatch the unfortunate 
leader, as he lay struggling beneath his horse. 
He had still his rifle in his hand, and his pistols 
in his belt. The first savage that advanced re- 
ceived the contents of the rifle in his breast, and 
fell dead upon the spot ; but before Vanderburgh 
could draw a pistol, a blow from a tomahawk laid 
him prostrate, and he was dispatched by repeated 
wounds. 

Such was the fate of Major Henry Vander- 
burgh : one of the best and worthiest leaders of 
the American Fur Company ; who, by his manly 
bearing and dauntless courage, is said to have 
made himself universally popular among the bold- 
hearted rovers of the wilderness. 

Those of the little band who escaped fled in 
consternation to the camp, and spread direful re- 
ports of the force and ferocity of the enemy. 
The party, being without a head, were in com- 
plete confusion and dismay, and made a precipi- 
tate retreat, without attempting to recover the re- 
mains of their butchered leader. They made no 
halt until they reached the encampment of the 
Pends Oreilles, or Hanging-ears, where they 
offered a reward for the recovery of the body, 
but without success ; it never could be found. 

In the meantime Fitzpatrick and Bridger, of 
the Rocky Mountain Company, fared but little 
better than their rivals. In their eagerness to 



TRAPPERS' PRECAUTION. 133 

mislead them, they had betrayed themselves into 
danger, and got into a region infested with the 
Blackfeet. They soon found that foes were on 
the watch for them ; but they were experienced 
in Indian warfare, and not to be surprised at 
night, nor drawn into an ambush in the day-time. 
As the evening advanced, the horses were all 
brought in and picketed, and a guard was sta- 
tioned round the camp. At the earliest streak 
of day one of the leaders would mount his horse, 
and gallop off full speed for about half a mile ; 
then look round for Indian trails, to ascertain 
whether there had been any lurkers round the 
camp : returning slowly, he would reconnoitre 
every ravine and thicket where there might be 
an ambush. This done, he would gallop off in 
an opposite direction and repeat the same scru- 
tiny. Finding all things safe, the horses would 
be turned loose to graze, but always under the 
eye of a guard. 

A caution equally vigilant was observed in the 
march, on approaching any defile or place where 
an enemy might lie in wait ; and scouts were al- 
ways kept in the advance, or along the ridges and 
rising grounds on the flanks. 

At length, one day, a large band of Blackfeet 
appeared in the open field, but in the vicinity of 
rocks and cliffs. They kept at a wary distance, 
but made friendly signs. The trappers rephed 
in the same way, but likewise kept aloof. A 
small party of Indians now advanced, bearing the 
pipe of peace ; they were met by an equal num- 
ber of white men, and they formed a group, mid- 



134 B ONNE VILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

way between the two bands, where the pipe was 
circulated from hand to hand, and smoked with 
all due ceremony. An instance of natural affec- 
tion took place at this pacific meeting. Among 
the free trappers in the Rocky Mountain band, 
was a spirited young Mexican, named Loretto ; 
who, in the course of his wanderings, had ran- 
somed a beautiful Blackfoot girl fi'om a band of 
Crows by whom she had been captured. He 
made her his wife, aftei the Indian style, and she 
had followed his fortunes ever since, with the 
most devoted affection. 

Among the Blackfeet warriors who advanced 
with the calumet of peace, she recognized a 
brother. Leaving her infant with Loretto, she 
rushed forward and threw herself upon her broth- 
er's neck ; who clasped his long-lost sister to his 
heart, with a warmth of affection but little com- 
patible with the reputed stoicism of the savage. 

While this scene was taking place, Bridger 
left the main body of trappers, and rode slowly 
towards the group of smokers, with his rifle rest- 
ing across the pommel of his saddle. The chief 
of the Blackfeet stepped forward to meet him. 
From some unfortunate feeling of distrust, Brid- 
ger cocked his rifle just as the chief was extend- 
ing his hand in friendship. The quick ear of the 
savage caught the click of the lock ; in a twink- 
ling, he grasped the barrel, forcing the muzzle 
downward, and the contents were discharged into 
the earth at his feet. His next movement was 
to wrest the weapon from the hand of Bridger, 
and fell him with it to the earth. He might 



LORETTO AND HIS INDIAN WIFE. 135 

have found this no easy task, had not the unfor- 
tunate leader received two arrows in his back 
during the struggle. 

The chief now sprang into the vacant saddle 
and galloped off to his band. A wild hurry- 
skurry scene ensued ; each party took to the 
banks, the rocks, and trees, to gain favorable po- 
sitions, and an irregular firing was kept up on 
either side, without much effect. The Indian 
girl had been hurried off by her people, at the 
outbreak of the affray. She would have returned, 
through the dangers of the fight, to her husband 
and her child, but was prevented by her brother. 
The young Mexican saw her struggles and her 
agony, and heard her piercing cries. With a 
generous impulse, he caught up the cliild in his 
arms, rushed forward, regardless of Indian shaft 
or rifle, and placed it in safety upon her bosom. 
Even the savage heart of the Blackfoot chief was 
reached by this noble deed. He pronounced 
Loretto a madman for his temerity, but bade him 
depart in peace. The young Mexican hesitated : 
he urged to have his wife restored to him, but her 
brother interfered, and the countenance of the 
chief grew dark. The girl, he said, belonged to 
his tribe — she must remain with her people. 
Loretto would still have lingered, but his wife 
implored him to depart, lest his life should be en- 
dangered. It was with the greatest reluctance 
that he returned to his companions. 

The approach of night put an end to the skir- 
mishing fire of the adverse parties, and the sav- 
ages drew off without renewing their hostilities. 



136 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

We cannot but remark, that both in this affair 
and in that of Pierre's Hole, the affray commenced 
by a hostile act on the part of white men, at the 
moment when the Indian warrior was extending 
the hand of amity. In neither instance, as far 
as circumstances have been stated to us by differ- 
ent persons, do we see any reason to suspect the 
savage chiefs of perfidy in their overtures of friend- 
ship. They advanced in the confiding way, usual 
among Indians when they bear the pipe of peace, 
and consider themselves sacred from attack. If 
we violate the sanctity of this ceremonial, by any 
hostile movement on our part, it is we who incur 
the charge of faithlessness ; and we doubt not that 
in both these instances the white men have been 
considered by the Blackfeet as the aggressors, and 
have, in consequence, been held up as men not 
to be trusted. 

A word to conclude the romantic incident of 
Loretto and his Indian bride. A few months 
subsequent to the event just related, the young 
Mexican settled his accounts with the Rocky 
Mountain Company, and obtained his discharge. 
He then left liis comrades and set off to rejoin 
his wife and child among her people ; and we 
understand that, at the time we are writing these 
pages, he resides at a trading-house established of 
late by the American Fur Company, in the Black- 
foot country, where he acts as an interpreter, and 
has his Indian girl with him. 



CHAPTER XII. 

A winter camp in the wilderness. — Medley of trappers, hun- 
ters, and Indians. — Scarcity of game. — New arrange- 
ments in the camp. — Detachments sent to a distance. — 
Carelessness of the Indians when encamped. — Sickness 
among the Indians. — Excellent character of the Nez Perces. 
— The Captain's etFort as a pacificator. — A Nez Percy's ar- 
gument in favor of war. — Robberies by the Blackfeet. — 
Long suffering of the Nez Percys. — A hunter's elysium 
among the mountains. — More robberies. — The Captain 
preaches up a crusade. — The effect upon his hearers. 



S^fflOR the greater part of the month of 
rarl November, Captain Bonneville remained 
aZdl i'l his temporary post on Salmon River. 
He was now in the full enjoyment of his wishes ; 
leading a hunter's life in the heart of the wilder- 
ness, with all its wild populace around him. 
Beside his own people, motley in character and 
costume — Creole, Kentuckian, Indian, half-breed, 
hired trapper, and free trapper — he was sur- 
rounded by encampments of Nez Perces and 
Flatheads, with their droves of horses covering 
the hills and plains. It was, he declares, a wild 
and bustling scene. The hunting parties of white 
men and red men, continually sallying forth and 
returning ; the groups at the various encamp- 
ments, some cookin^r, some workinir, some amus- 
ing themselves at different games ; the neighing 



138 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

of horses, the braying of asses, the resounding 
strokes of the axe, the sharp report of the rifle, 
the whoop, the halloo, and the frequent burst of 
laughter, all in the midst of a region suddenly 
roused from perfect silence and loneliness by this 
transient hunters' sojourn, realized, he says, the 
idea of a " populous solitude." 

The kind and genial character of the captain 
had, evidently, its influence on the opposite races 
thus fortuitously congregated together. The 
most perfect harmony prevailed between them. 
The Indians, he says, were friendly in their dis- 
positions, and honest to the most scrupulous de- 
gree, in their intercourse with the white men. 
It is true they were somewhat importunate in 
their curiosity, and apt to be continually in the 
way, examining everything with keen and pry- 
ing eye, and watching every movement of the 
white men. All this, however, was borne with 
great good humor by the captain, and through liis 
example by his men. Indeed, throughout all his 
transactions, he shows himself the friend of the 
poor Indians, and his conduct towards them is 
above all praise. 

The Nez Perces, the Flatheads, and the 
Hanging-ears, pride themselves upon the number 
of their horses, of which they possess more in 
proportion than any other of the mountain tribes 
within the buffalo range. Many of the Indian 
warriors and hunters, encamped around Captain 
Bonneville, possess from thirty to forty horses 
each. Their horses are stout, well built ponies, 
of great wind, and capable of enduring the 



NEW ARRANGEMENTS. 139 

severest hardship and fatigue. The swiftest of 
them, however, are those obtained from the 
whites, while sufficiently young to become accli- 
mated and inured to the rough service of the 
mountains. 

By degrees the populousness of this encamp- 
ment began to produce its inconveniences. The 
immense droves of horses owned by the Indians, 
consumed^ the herbage of the surrounding hills ; 
while, to drive them to any distant pasturage, in a 
neighborhood abounding with lurking and deadly 
enemies, would be to endanger the loss both of 
man and beast. Game, too, began to grow scarce. 
It was soon hunted and frightened out of the 
vicinity, and though the Indians made a wide 
circuit through the mountains in the hope of 
driving the buffalo towards the cantonment, their 
expedition was unsuccessful. It was plain that 
so large a party could not subsist themselves 
there, nor in any one place, throughout the win- 
ter. Captain Bonneville, therefore, altered his 
whole arrangements. He detatched fifty men 
towards the south to winter upon Snake River, 
and to trap about its waters in the spring, with 
orders to rejoin him in the month of July, at 
Horse Creek, in Green River Valley, which he 
had fixed upon as the general rendezvous of his 
company for the ensuing year. 

Of all his late party, he now retained with 
him merely a small number of free trappers, with 
whom he intended to sojourn among the Nez 
Perces and Flatheads, and adopt the Indian 
mode of moving with the game and grass. 



140 B ONNE VILLEPS AD VENTURES. 

Those bands, in effect, shortly afterwards broke 
up their encampments and set off for a less 
beaten neighborhood. Captain Bonneville re- 
mained behind for a few days, that he might se- 
cretly prepare caches, in which to deposit every- 
thing not required for current use. Thus light- 
ened of all superfluous incumbrance, he set off 
on the 20th of November to rejoin his Indian 
allies. He found them encamped in a secluded 
part of the country, at the head of a small 
stream. Considering themselves out of all dan- 
ger, in this sequestered spot, from their old ene- 
mies, the Blackfeet, their encampment manifested 
the most negligent security. Their lodges were 
scattered in every direction, and their horses 
covered every hill for a great distance round, 
grazing upon the upland bunch grass, which 
grew in great abundance, and though dry, re- 
tained its nutritious properties instead of losing 
them, like other grasses, in the autumn. 

When the Nez Perces, Flatheads, and Pends 
Oreilles are encamped in a dangerous neighbor- 
hood, says Captain Bonneville, the greatest care 
is taken of their horses, those prime articles of 
Indian wealth, and objects of Indian depredation. 
Each warrior has his horse tied by one foot at 
night to a stake planted before his lodge. Here 
they remain until broad daylight; by that time 
the young men of the camp are already ranging 
over the surrounding hills. Each family then 
drives its horses to some eligible spot, where they 
are left to graze unattended. A young Indian 
repairs occasionally to the pasture to give them 



LACK OF PRECAUTION. Ul 

water, and to see that all is well. So accustomed 
are the horses to this management, that they 
keep together in the pasture where they have 
been left. As the sun sinks behind the hills, 
they may be seen moving from all points towards 
the camp, where they surrender themselves to be 
tied up for the night. Even in situations of dan- 
ger, the Indians rarely set guards over their 
camp at night, intrusting that office entirely to 
their vigilant and well-trained dogs. 

In an encampment, however, of such fancied 
security as that in which Captain Bonneville 
found his Indian friends, much of these precau- 
tiojife with respect to their horses are omitted. 
They merely drive them, at nightfall, to some se- 
questered little dell, and leave them there, at per- 
fect liberty, until the morning. 

One object of Captain Bonneville in wintering 
among these Indians, was to procure a supply of 
horses against the spring. They were, however, 
extremely unwilling to part with any, and it was 
with great difficulty that he purchased, at the 
rate of twenty dollars each, a few for tlie use of 
some of his free trappers, who were on foot, and 
dependent on him for their equipment. 

In this encampment Captain Bonneville re- 
mained from the 21st of November to the 9th of 
December. During this period the thermometer 
ranged from thirteen to forty-two degrees. There 
were occasional falls of snow ; but it generally 
melted away almost immediately, and the tender 
blades of new grass began to shoot up among 
the old. On the 7th of December, however, the 
thermometer fell to seven degrees. 



142 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

The reader will recollect that, on distributing 
his forces, when in Green River Valley, Captain 
Bonneville had detached a party, headed by a 
leader of the name of Matthieu, with all the 
weak and disabled horses, to sojourn about EJjar 
River, meet the Soshonie bands, and afterw^ds 
to rejoin him at his winter camp on Salmon 
River. 

More than sufficient time had elapsed, yet 
Matthieu failed to make his appearance, and un- 
easiness began to be felt on his account. Captain 
Bonneville sent out four men, to range the country 
through which he would have to pass, and ^i- 
deavor to get some information concerning 1:^1 ; 
for his route lay across the great Snake R^r 
plain, which spreads itself out like an Arabian 
desert, and on which a cavalcade could be dp- 
scried at a great distance, The scouts soon re- 
turned, having proceeded no further than the edge 
of the plain, pretending that their horses were 
lame ; but it was evident they had feared to ven- 
ture, with so small a force, into these exposed 
and dangerous regions. 

A disease, which Captain Bonneville supposed 
to be pneumonia, now appeared among the In- 
dians, carrying off numbers of them, after an ill- 
ness of three or four days. The worthy captain 
acted as physician, prescribing profuse sweatings 
and copious bleedings, and uniformly with suc- 
cess, if the patient was subsequently treated with 
proper care. In extraordinary cases, the poor 
savages called in the aid of their own doctors or 
conjurors, who officiated with great noise and 



PEACE CONFERENCE PROPOSED. 143 

mummery, but with little benefit. Those who 
died during this epidemic, were buried in graves, 
after the manner of the whites, but without any 
regard to the direction of the head. It is a fact 
worthy of notice, that, while this malady made 
such ravaiies amono; the natives, not a sinj'le 

CO ' o 

white man had the slightest symptom of it. 

A familiar intercourse of some standing with 
the Pierced-nose and Flathead Indians, had now 
convinced Captain Bonneville of their amicable 
and inoffensive character ; he began to take a 
strong interest in them, and conceived the idea of 
becoming a pacificator, and healing the deadly 
feud between them and the Blackfeet, in which 
they were so deplorably the sufferers. He pro- 
posed the matter to some of the leaders, and 
urged that they should meet the Blackfeet chiefs 
in a grand pacific conference, offering to send two 
of his men to the enemy's camp with pipe, tobac- 
co, and flag of truce, to negotiate the proposed 
meeting. 

The Nez Perces and Flathead sages, upon 
this, held a council of war, of two days' duration, 
in which there was abundance of hard smoking 
and long talking, and both eloquence and tobacco 
were nearly exhausted. At length they came to 
a decision to reject the worthy captain's proposi- 
tion, and upon pretty substantial grounds, as the 
reader may judge. 

" War," said the chiefs, " is a bloody business, 
and full of evil ; but it keeps the eyes of the 
chiefs always open, and makes the limbs of the 
young men strong and supple. In war, every 



1 44 B ONNE VILLE' S AD VEN T URES. 

one is on the alert. If we see a trail, we know 
it must be an enemy ; if the Blackfeet come to 
us, we know it is for war, and we are ready. 
Peace, on the other hand, sounds no alarm ; the 
eyes of the chiefs are closed in sleep, and the 
young men are sleek and lazy. The horses stray 
into the mountains ; the women and their little 
babes go about alone. But the heart of a Black- 
foot is a lie, and his tongue is a trap. K he says 
peace, it is to deceive ; he comes to us as a 
brother : he smokes his pipe with us ; but when 
he sees us weak, and off our guard, he will slay 
and steal. We will have no such peace ; let 
there be war ! " 

With this reasoning. Captain Bonneville was 
fain to acquiesce ; but, since the sagacious Flat- 
heads and their allies were content to remain in a 
state of warfare, he wished them, at least, to exer- 
cise the boasted vigilance which war was to pro- 
duce, and to keep their eyes open. He repre- 
sented to them the impossibility, that two such 
considerable clans could move about the country 
without leaving trails by which they might be 
traced. Besides, among the Blackfeet braves 
were several Nez Perce s, who had been taken 
prisoners in early youth, adopted by their captors, 
and trained up and imbued with warlike and pred- 
atory notions ; these had lost all sympathies with 
their native tribe, and would be prone to lead the 
enemy to their secret haunts. He exhorted them, 
therefore, to keep upon the alert, and never to 
remit their vigilance, while within the range of so 
crafty and cruel a foe. All these counsels were 



HORSES CARRIED OFF. 145 

lost upon his easy and simple-minded hearers. A 
careless indifference reimied throughout their en- 
campments, and their horses were permitted to 
range the hills at night in perfect freedom. Cap- 
tain Bonneville had his own horses brought in at 
night, and properly jjicketed and guarded. The 
evil he apprehended soon took place. In a single 
night, a sweep was made through the neighboring 
pastures by the Blackfeet, and eighty-six of the 
finest horses carried off. A whip and a rope 
were left in a conspicuous situation by the rob- 
bers, as a taunt to the simpletons they had un- 
horsed. 

Long before sunrise, the news of tliis calamity 
spread like wildfire through the different encamp- 
ments. Captain Bonneville, whose own horses 
remained safe at their pickets, watched in momen- 
tary expectation of an outbreak of warriors, 
Pierced-nose and Flathead, in furious pursuit of 
the marauders ; but no such thing — they con- 
tented themselves with searching diligently over 
hill and dale, to glean up such horses as had 
escaped the hands of the marauders, and then re- 
signed themselves to their loss with the most 
exemplary quiescence. 

Some, it is true, who were entirely unhorsed, 
set out on a begging visit to their cousins, as they 
call them, the Lower Nez Perces, who inhabit 
the lower country about the Columbia, and pos- 
sess horses in abundance. To these they repair 
when in difficulty, and seldom fail, by dint of beg- 
ging and bartering, to get themselves once more 
mounted on horseback. 
10 



146 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

Game had now become scarce in the neighbor- 
hood of the camj:), and it was necessary, according 
to Indian custom, to move off to a less beaten 
ground. Captain Bonneville proposed the Horse 
Prairie ; but his Indian fi-iends objected, that 
many of the Nez Perces had gone to visit their 
cousins, and that the whites were few in number, 
so that their united force was not sufficient to 
venture on the buffiilo grounds, which were in- 
fested by bands of Blackfeet. 

They now spoke of a place at no great dis- 
tance, which they represented as a perfect hun- 
ter's elysium. It was on the right branch, or 
head stream of the river, locked uj) among cliffs 
and precipices, where there was no danger from 
roving bands, and where the Blackfeet dare not 
enter. Here, they said, the elk abounded, and 
the mountain sheep were to be seen trooping 
upon the rocks and hills. A little distance be- 
yond it, also, herds of buffalo were to be met 
with, out of the range of danger. Thither they 
proposed to move their camp. 

The proposition pleased the captain, who was 
desirous, through the Indians, of becoming ac- 
quainted with all the secret places of the land. 
Accordingly, on the 9th of December, they struck 
their tents, and moved forward by short stages, 
as many of the Indians were yet feeble from the 
late malady. 

Following up the right fork of the river, they 
came to where it entered a deep gorge of the 
mountains, up which, lay the secluded region so 
much vaunted by the Indians. Captain Bonne- 



MORE LOSSES, 147 

ville halted, and encamped for three days, before 
entering the gorge. In the meantime, he de- 
tached five of his free trappers to scour the hills 
and kill as many elk as possible, before the main 
body should enter, as they would then be soon 
frightened away by the various Indian hunting 
parties. 

^Yliile thus encamped, they were still liable to 
the marauds of the Blackfeet, and Captain Bonne- 
ville admonished his Indian friends to be upon 
their guard. The Nez Percys, however, notwith- 
standing their recent loss, were still careless of 
their horses ; merely driving them to some se- 
cluded spot, and leavmg them there for tlie 
night, without setting any guard upon them. 
The consequence was a second swoop, in which 
forty-one were carried off. This was borne with 
equal philosophy with the first, and no effort was 
made either to recover the horses, or to Uike ven- 
geance on the thieves. 

The Nez Perces, however, gi-ew more cautious 
with respect to their remaining horses, driving 
them regularly to the camp every evening, and 
fastening them to pickets. Captain Boimeville, 
however, told them that this was not enough. It 
was evident that they were dogged by a daring 
and persevering enemy, who was encouraged by 
past impunity ; they should, therefore, take more 
than usual precautions, and post a guard at night 
over their cavalry. They could not, however, be 
persuaded to depart from their usual custom. 
The horse once picketed, the care of the owner 
was over for tlie night, and he slept profoundly. 



148 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

None waked in the camp but the gamblers, who, 
absorbed in their play, were more difficult to be 
roused to external circumstances than even the 
sleepers. 

The Blackfeet are bold enemies, and fond of 
hazardous exploits. The band that were hover- 
ing about the neighborhood, finding they had 
such pacific people to deal with, redoubled their 
daring. The horses being now picketed before 
the lodges, a number of Blackfeet scouts pene- 
trated in the early part of the night into the very 
centre of the camp. Here they went about 
among the lodges, as calmly and dehberately as 
if at home, quietly cutting loose the horses that 
stood picketed by the lodges of their sleej^ing 
owners. One of these prowlers, more adventu- 
rous than the rest, approached a fire, round which 
a group of Nez Percys were gambling with the 
most intense eagerness. Here he stood for some 
time, muffled up in his robe, peering over the 
shoulders of the players, watching the changes of 
their countenances and the fluctuations of the 
game. So completely engrossed were they, that 
the presence of this muffled eaves-dropper was 
unnoticed, and having executed his bravado, he 
retired undiscovered. 

Having cut loose as many horses as they could 
conveniently carry off, the Blackfeet scouts re- 
joined their comrades, and all remained patiently 
round the camp. By degrees, the horses, finding 
themselves at liberty, took their route towards 
their customary gazing ground. As they emerged 
from the camp, they were silently taken posses- 



THE CAPTAIN SPEAKS FOR WAR. 149 

sion of, until, having secured about thirty, the 
Blackfeet sprang on their backs and scampered 
off. The clatter of hoofs startled the gam- 
blers from their game. They gave the alarm, 
which soon roused the sleepers from every lodge. 
Still all was quiescent ; no marshalling of forces, 
no saddling of steed and dashing off in pursuit, 
no talk of retribution for their repeated outrages. 
The patience of Captain Bonneville was at length 
exhausted. He had played the part of a pacifi- 
cator without success ; he now altered his tone, 
and resolved, if possible, to rouse their war spirit. 

Accordingly, convokmg their chiefs, he m- 
veighed against their craven policy, and urged 
the necessity of vigorous and retributive meas- 
ures, that would check the confidence and pre- 
sumption of their enemies, if not inspire them 
with awe. For this purpose, he advised that a 
war party should be immediately sent off on the 
trail of the marauders, to follow them, if neces- 
sary, into the very heart of the Blackfoot coun- 
try, and not to leave them until they had taken 
signal vengeance. Beside this, he recommended 
the organization of minor war parties, to make 
reprisals to the extent of the losses sustained. 
" Unless you rouse yourselves from your apathy," 
said he, " and strike some bold and decisive blow, 
you will cease to be considered men, or objects 
of manly warfiire. The very squaws and chil- 
dren of the Blackfeet will be sent against you, 
while their warriors reserve themselves for nobler 
antagonists." 

This harangue had evidently a momentary 



150 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

effect upon the pride of the hearers. After a 
short pause, however, one of the orators arose. 
It was bad, he said, to go to war for mere re- 
venge. The Great Spirit had given them a heart 
for peace, not for war. They had lost horses, it 
was true, but they could easily get others from 
their cousins, the Lower Nez Perces, without in- 
currmg any risk ; whereas, in war they should 
lose men, who were not so readily replaced. As 
to their late losses, an increased watchfulness 
would prevent any more misfortunes of the kind. 
He disapproved, therefore, of all hostile measures ; 
and all the other chiefs concurred m his opinion. 

Captain Bonneville again took up the point. 
" It is true," said he, " the Great Spirit has given 
you a heart to love your friends ; but he has also 
given you an arm to strike your enemies. Un- 
less you do something speedily to put an end to 
this continual plundering, I must say farewell. 
As yet, I have sustained no loss ; thanks to the 
precautions which you have slighted : but my 
property is too unsafe here ; my turn will come 
next ; I and my people will share the contempt 
you are bringing upon yourselves, and will be 
thought, like you, poor-spirited beings, who may 
at any time be plundered with impunity." 

The conference broke up with some signs of 
excitement on the part of the Indians. Early 
the next morning, a party of thirty men set off 
in pursuit of the foe, and Captain Bonneville 
hoped to hear a good account of the Blackfeet 
marauders. To his disappointment, the war party 
came lagging back on the following day, leading 



WOUNDED PRIDE SATISFIED. 



151 



a few old, sorry, broken-down horses, which the 
freebooters had not been able to urge to sufficient 
speed. The effort exhausted the martial spirit, 
and satisjfied the wounded pride of the Nez Percys, 
and they relapsed into their usual state of passive 
indifference. 




7 




CHAPTER XIII. 

STORY OF KOSATO, THE RENEGADE BLACKFOOT. 

|F the meekness and lonfj^-sufferino; of the 
Pierced-noses grieved the spirit of Cap- 
tain Bonneville, there was another 
individual in the camp, to whom they were still 
more annoying. This was a Blaekfoot renegado, 
named Kosato, a fiery, hot-blooded youth, wlio, 
with a beautiful girl of the same tribe, had taken 
refuge among the Nez Perces. Though adopted 
into the tribe, he still retained the warlike spirit 
of his race, and loathed the peaceful, inoffensive 
habits of those around him. The hunting of the 
deer, the elk, and the buffalo, which was the 
height of their ambition, was too tame to satisfy 
his wild and restless nature. His heart burned 
for the foray, the ambush, the skirmish, the 
scamper, and all the haps and hazards of roving 
and predatory warfare. 

The recent hoverings of the Blackfeet about 
the camp, and their nightly prowls, and daring 
and successful marauds, had kept him in a fever 
and a flutter ; like a hawk in a cage, who hears 
his late companions swooping and screaming in 
wild liberty above him. The attempt of Captain 
Bonneville to rouse the war spirit of the Nez 
Perces, and prompt them to retaliation, was ar- 



KOSATO, THE RENEGADE. 153 

dently seconded by Kosato. For several days he 
was incessantly devising schemes of vengeance, 
and endeavoring to set on foot an expedition 
that should carry dismay and desolation into the 
Blackfeet towns. All his art was exerted to 
touch upon those springs of human action with 
which he was most familiar. He drew the 
listening savages round him by his nervous 
eloquence ; taunted them with recitals of past 
wrongs and insults ; drew glowing pictures of 
triumphs and trophies within their reach ; re- 
counted tales of daring and romantic enterprise, 
of secret marchings, covert lurking?, midnight 
surprisals, sackings, burnings, plunderings, scalp- 
ings ; together with the triumphant return, and 
the feasting and rejoicing of the victors. These 
wild tales were intermingled with the beating of 
the drum, the yell, the war-whoop and the war- 
dance, so inspiring to Indian valor. All, how- 
ever, were lost upon the peaceful spirits of his 
hearers ; not a Nez Perces was to be roused to 
vengeance, or stimulated to glorious war. In 
the bitterness of his heart, the Blackfoot rene- 
gado repined at the mishap which had severed 
him from a race of congenial spirits, and driven 
him to take refuge among beings so destitute of 
martial fire. 

The character and conduct of this man at- 
tracted the attention of Captain Bonneville, and 
he was anxious to hear the reason why he had 
deserted his tribe, and why he looked back upon 
them with such deadly hostility. Kosato told 
him his own story briefly ; — it gives a picture 



154 B ONNEVILLrS AD VENTURES. 

of the deep, strong passions that work in the 
bosoms of these miscalled stoics. 

" You see my wife," said he : " she is good ; 
she is beautiful — I love her. Yet, she has been 
the cause of all my troubles. She was the wife 
of my chief. I loved her more than he did; 
and she knew it. We talked together ; we 
laughed together ; we were always seeking each 
other's society ; but we were as innocent as chil- 
dren. The chief grew jealous, and commanded 
her to speak with me no more. His heart be- 
came hard towards her ; his jealousy grew more 
furious. He beat her without cause and without 
mercy ; and threatened to kill her outright, if she 
even looked at me. Do you want traces of his 
fury ? Look at that scar ! His rage against me 
was no less persecuting. War parties of the 
Crows were hovering round us ; our young men 
had seen their trail. All hearts were roused for 
action ; my horses were before my lodge. Sud- 
denly the chief came, took them to his own 
pickets, and called them his own. What could I 
do ? — he was a chief. I durst not speak, but 
my heart was bui'ning. I joined no longer in 
the council, the hunt, or the war-feast. What 
had I to do there ? an unhorsed, degraded war- 
rior. I kept by myself, and thought of nothing 
but these wrongs and outrages. 

" I was sitting one evening upon a knoll that 
overlooked the meadow where the horses were 
pastured. I saw the horses that were once mine 
grazing among those of the chief. This mad- 
dened me, and I sat brooding for a time over the 



STORY OF KOSATO. 155 

injuries I had suffered, and the cruelties whicli 
she I loved had endured for my sake, until my 
heart swelled and grew sore, and my teeth were 
clinched. As I looked down upon the meadow, 
I saw the chief walking among his horses. I 
fastened my eyes on him as a hawk's ; my blood 
boiled ; I drew my breath hard. He went 
among the willows. In an instant I was on my 
feet ; my hand was on my knife — I flew rather 
than ran — before he was aware, I sprang 
upon him, and with two blows laid him dead at 
my feet. I covered his body with earth, and 
strewed bushes over the place ; then hastened to 
her I loved, told her what I had done, and urged 
her to fly with me. She only answered me with 
tears. I reminded her of the wrongs I had suf- 
fered, and of the blows and stripes she had en- 
dured from the deceased ; I had done nothing but 
an act of justice. I again urged her to fly ; but 
she only wept the more, and bade me go. My 
heart was heavy, but my eyes were dry. I 
folded my arms. ' 'Tis well,' said I, ' Kosato 
will go alone to the desert. None will be with 
him but the wild beasts of the desert. The 
seekers of blood may follow on his trail. They 
may come upon him when he sleeps, and glut 
their revenge ; but you will be safe. Kosato 
will go alone.' 

" I turned away. She sprang after me, and 
strained me in her arms. ' No,' cried she, ' Ko- 
sato shall not go alone ! Wherever he goes I 
will go — he shall never part from me.' " 

" AVe hastily took in our hands such things as 



156 B ONNE VILLFPS AD VEX T VRES. 

we most needed, and stealing quietly from the 
village, mounted the first horses we encountered. 
Speeding day and night, we soon reached this 
tribe. Tliey received us with welcome, and we 
have dwelt with them in peace. They are good 
and kind ; they are honest ; but their hearts are 
the hearts of women." 

Such was the story of Kosato, as related by 
him to Captain Bonneville. It is of a kind that 
often occurs in Indian life ; where love elope- 
ments from tribe to tribe are as frequent as 
among the novel-read heroes and heroines of 
sentimental civilization, and often give rise to 
bloody and lasting feuds. 




CHAPTER XIV. 

The party enters the mountain gorge. — A Avild fastness 
among the hills. — Mountain mutton. — Peace and plenty. 
— The amorous trapper. — A piebald wedding. — A free 
trapper's wife — her gala equipments. — Christmas in the 
wilderness. 




g]N the 19th of December Captain Bonne- 
ville and his confederate Indians raised 
their camp, and entered the narrow 
gorge made by the north fork of Sahnon River. 
Up this lay the secure and plenteous hunting 
region so temptingly described by the Indians. 

Since leaving Green River the plains had in- 
variably been of loose sand or coarse gravel, 
and the rocky formation of the mountains of 
primitive limestone. The rivers, in general, 
were skirted with willows and bitter cotton-wood 
trees, and the prairies covered with wormwood. 
In the hollow breast of the mountains which they 
were now penetrating, the surrounding heights 
were clothed with pine ; while the declivities of 
the lower hills afforded abundance of bunch grass 
for the horses. 

As the Indians had represented, they were 
now in a natural fastness of the mountains, the 
ingress and egress of which was by a deep gorge, 
so narrow, rugged, and difficult, as to prevent 



158 B ONNE VILLFPS AD VENTURES. 

secret approach or rapid retreat, and to admit of 
easy defense. The Blackfeet, therefore, re- 
frained from venturing in after the Nez Perces, 
awaiting a better chance, when they should once 
more emerge into the open country. 

Captain Bonneville soon found that the In- 
dians had not exaggerated the advantages of this 
region. Besides numerous gangs of elk, large 
flocks of the ahsahta or bighorn, the mountain 
sheep, were to be seen bounding among the pre- 
cipices. These simple animals were easily cir- 
cumvented and destroyed. A few hunters may 
surround a flock and kill as many as they please. 
Numbers were daily brought into camp, and the 
flesh of those which were young and fat, was 
extolled as superior to the finest mutton. 

Here, then, there was a cessation from toil, 
from hunger, and alarm. Past ills and dangers 
were forgotten. The hunt, the game, the song, 
the story, the rough though good-humored joke, 
made time pass joyously away, and plenty and 
security reigned throughout the camp. 

Idleness and ease, it is said, lead to love, and 
love to matrimony, in civilized life, and the same 
process takes place in the wilderness. Filled 
with good cheer and mountain mutton, one of the 
free trappers began to repine at the solitude of 
his lodge, and to experience the force of that 
great law of nature, " It is not meet for man to 
live alone." 

After a night of grave cogitation, he repaired 
to Kowsoter, the Pierced-nose chief; and un- 
folded to him the secret workings of his bosom. 



MATRIMONY. 159 

"I want," said he, "a wife. Give me one 
from among your tribe. Not a young, giddy- 
pated girl, that will think of nothing but flaunting 
and finery, but a sober, discreet, liard-working 
squaw ; one that will share my lot without flinch- 
ing, however hard it may be ; that can take care 
of my lodge and be a companion and a helpmate 
to me in the wilderness." Kowsoter promised to 
look round among the females of his tribe, and 
procure such a one as he desired. Two days 
were requisite for the search. At the expiration 
of these, Kowsoter called at his lodge and in- 
formed him that he would bring his bride to him 
in the course of the afternoon. He kept his word. 
At the appointed time he approached, leading the 
bride, a comely copper-colored dame, attired in 
her Indian finery. Her father, mother, brothers 
by the half dozen, and cousins by the score, all 
followed on to grace the ceremony, and greet the 
new and important relative. 

The trapper received his new and numerous 
family connection with proper solemnity ; he 
placed his bride beside him, and, filling the pipe, 
the great symbol of peace, with his best tobacco, 
took two or three whiffs, then handed it to the 
chief, who transferred it to the ftither of the 
bride, from whom it was passed on from hand to 
hand and mouth to mouth of the whole circle of 
kinsmen round the fire, all maintaining the most 
profound and becoming silence. 

After several pipes had been filled and emp- 
tied in this solemn ceremonial, the chief ad- 
dressed the bride; detailing, at considerable 



1 60 B ONNE VILLE'S AD VEN TUBES. 

length, the duties of a wife ; which, among In- 
dians, are little less onerous than those of the 
pack-horse ; this done, he turned to her friends, 
and congratulated them upon the great alliance 
she had made. They showed a due sense of 
their good fortune, especially when the nuptial 
presents came to be distributed among the chiefs 
and relatives, amounting to about one hundred 
and eighty dollars. The company soon retired, 
and now the worthy trapper found, indeed, that 
he had no green girl to deal with ; for the know- 
ing dame at once assumed the style and dignity 
of a trapper's wife, taking possession of the lodge 
as her undisputed empire ; arranging everything 
according to her own taste and habitudes ; and 
appearing as much at home, and on as easy terms 
with the trapper, as if they had been man and 
wife for years. 

We have already given a picture of a free 
trapper and his liorse, as furnished by Captain 
Bonneville : we shall here subjoin, as a com- 
panion picture, his description of a free trapper's 
wife, that the reader may have a correct idea of 
the kind of blessing the worthy hunter in ques- 
tion had invoked to solace him in tlie wilderness. 

" The free trapper, while a bachelor, has no 
greater pet than his horse ; but the moment he 
takes a wife (a sort of brevet rank in matrimony 
occasionally bestowed upon some Indian foir one, 
like the heroes of ancient chivalry, in the open 
field), he discovers that he has a still more fan- 
ciful and capricious animal on which to lavish 
his expenses. 



A FREE TRAPPER'S WIFE. 161 

" No sooner does an Indian belle experience 
this promotion, than all her notions at once rise 
and expand to the dignity of her situation ; and 
the purse of her lover, and his credit into the 
bargain, are tasked to the utmost to fit her out 
in becoming style. The wife of a free trapper 
to be equipped and arrayed like any ordinary and 
undistinguished squaw? Perish the groveling 
thought ! In the first place, she must have a 
horse for her own riding ; but no jaded, sorry, 
earth-spirited hack ; such as is sometimes as- 
signed by an Indian husband for the transpor- 
tation of his squaw and her pappooses : the wife 
of a free trapper must have the most beautiful 
animal she can lay her eyes on. And then, as 
to his decoration : headstall, breast-bands, saddle 
and crupper are lavishly embroidered with beads, 
and hung with thimbles, hawks' bells and 
bunches of ribands. From each side of the 
saddle hangs an esqiiimoot, a sort of pocket, in 
which she bestows the residue of her trinkets 
and knick-knacks, which cannot be crowded on 
the decoration of her horse or herself. Over this 
she folds, with great care, a drapery of scarlet 
and bright-colored calicoes, and now considers 
the caparison of her steed complete. 

" As to her own person, she is even still more 
extravagant. Her hair, esteemed beautiful in 
proportion to its length, is carefully plaited, and 
made to ftill with seeming negligence over either 
breast. Her riding hat is stuck full of party- 
colored feathers ; her robe, fashioned somewhat 
after that of the whites, is of red, green, and 
11 



162 B ONNE VILLIPS AD VENTURES 

sometimes gray cloth, but always of the finest 
texture that can be procured. Her leggins and 
moccasons are of the most beautiful and expen- 
sive workmanship, and fitted neatly to the foot 
and ankle, which with the Indian women are 
generally well formed and delicate. Then as to 
jewelry : in the way of finger-rings, ear-rings, 
necklaces, and other female glories, nothing 
within reach of the trapper's means is omit- 
ted, that can tend to impress the beholder with 
an idea of the lady's high estate. To finish the 
whole, she selects from among her blankets of 
various dyes, one of some glowing color, and 
throwing it over her shoulders with a native 
grace, vaults into the saddle of her gay, prancing 
steed, and is ready to follow her mountaineer ' to 
the last gasp with love and loyalty.' " 

Such is the general picture of the free trap- 
per's wife, given by Captain Bonneville ; how 
far it applied in its details to the one in question, 
does not altogether appear, though it would seem 
from the outset of her connubial career, that she 
was ready to avail herself of all the pomp and 
circumstance of her new condition. It is worthy 
of mention, that wherever there are several 
wives of free trappers in a camp, the keenest ri- 
valry exists between them, to the sore detriment 
of their husbands' purses. Their whole time is 
expended, and their ingenuity tasked by endeav- 
ors to eclipse each other in dress and decoration. 
The jealousies and heart-burnings thus occa- 
sioned among these, so styled, children of nature, 
ftre equally intense with those of the rival lead- 



CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES. 163 

ers of style and fashion in the luxurious abodes 
of civilized life. 

The genial festival of Christmas, which through- 
out all Christendom lights up the fireside of 
home with mirth and jollity, followed hard upon 
the wedding just described. Though far from 
kindred and friends, Captain Bonneville and his 
handful of free trappers were not disposed to 
suffer the festival to pass unenjoyed ; they were 
m a region of good cheer, and were disposed to 
be joyous ; so it was determined to " light up the 
yule clog," and celebrate a merry Christmas in 
the heart of the wilderness. 

On Christmas eve, accordingly, they began 
their rude fetes and rejoicings. In the course 
of the night the free trappers surrounded the 
lodge of the Pierced-nose chief, and in lieu of 
Christmas carols, saluted him with B,feu de joie. 

Kowsoter received it in a truly Christian spirit, 
and after a speech, in which he expressed his high 
gratification at the honor done him, invited the 
whole company to a feast on the following day. 
His invitation was gladly accepted. A Christ- 
mas dinner in the wigwam of an Indian chief! 
There was novelty in the idea. Not one failed 
to be present. The banquet was served up in 
primitive style: skins of various kinds, nicely 
dressed for the occasion, were spread upon the 
ground ; upon these were heaped up abundance 
of venison, elk meat, and mountain mutton ; with 
various bitter roots, which the Indians use as con- 
diments. 

After a short prayer, the company all seated 



164 



BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 



themselves cross-legged, in Turkish fashion, to 
the banquet, which passed off with great hilarity. 
After which various games of strength and agility 
by both white men and Indians, closed the Christ- 
mas festivities. 




CHAPTER XV. 

A hunt after hunters. — Hungry times. — A voracious repast. 

— Wintr}' weather. — Godin's River. — Splendid winter 
scene on the great lava plain of Snake River. — Severe 
travelling and tramping in the snow. — Maneuvers of a 
solitary Indian horseman. — Encampment on Snake River. 

— Banneck Indians. — The horse chief — his charmed life. 




HE continued absence of Matthieii and 
his party had, by this time, caused great 
uneasiness in the mind of Captain Bonne- 
ville ; and, finding there was no dependence to be 
placed upon the perseverance and courage of scout- 
ing parties, in so perilous a quest, he determined 
to set out himself on the search, and to keep on 
until he should ascertain something of the object 
of his solicitude. 

Accordingly, on the 26th December, he left 
the camp, accompanied by thirteen stark trappers 
and hunters, all well mounted and armed for dan- 
gerous enterprise. On the following morning 
they passed out at the head of the mountain 
gorge, and sallied forth into the open plain. As 
they confidently expected a brush with the Black- 
feet, or some other predatory horde, they moved 
with great circumspection, and kept vigilant watch 
in their encampments. 

In the course of another day they left the 



l66 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

main branch of Salmon River, and proceeded 
south towards a jDass called John Day's Defile. 
It was severe and arduous travelling. The plains 
were swept by keen and bitter blasts of wintry 
wind; the ground was generally covered with 
snow, game was scarce, so that hunger generally 
prevailed in the camp, while the want of pastur- 
age soon began to manifest itself in the declining 
vigor of the horses. 

The party had scarcely encamped on the after- 
noon of the 28th, when two of the hunters who 
had sallied forth in quest of game came galloping 
back in great alarm. While hunting they had 
perceived a party of savages, evidently maneuver- 
ing to cut them off from the camp ; and nothing 
had saved them from being entrapped but the 
speed of their horses. 

These tidings struck dismay into the camp. 
Captain Bonneville endeavored to reassure his 
men by representing the position of their encamp- 
ment, and its capability of defense. He then 
ordered the horses to be driven in and picketed, 
and threw up a rough breastwork of ftillen trunks 
of trees, and the vegetable rubbish of the wilder- 
ness. Within this barrier was maintained a vigi- 
lant watch throughout the night, which passed 
away without alarm. At early dawn they scru- 
tinized the surrounding plain, to discover whether 
any enemies had been lurking about during the 
night : not a foot-print, however, was to be dis- 
covered in the coarse gravel with which the plain 
was covered. 

Hunger now began to cause more uneasiness 



A VORACIOUS REPAST. 1G7 

than the apprehensions of surrounding enemies. 
After marching a few miles they encamped at the 
foot of a mountain, in hopes of finding buffalo. 
It was not until the next day that they discovered 
a pair of fine bulls on the edge of the plain, among 
rocks and ravines. Having now been two days 
and a half without a mouthful of food, they took 
especial care that these animals should not escape 
them. Wliile some of the surest marksmen ad- 
vanced cautiously with their rifles into the rough 
ground, four of the best mounted horsemen took 
their stations in the plain, to run the bulls down 
should they only be maimed. 

The buffalo were wounded, and set oflT in head- 
long flight. The half-famished horses were too 
weak to overtake them on the frozen ground, but 
succeeded in driving them on the ice, where they 
slipped and fell, and were easily dispatched. The 
hunters loaded themselves with beef for present 
and future supply, and then returned and en- 
camped at the last night's fire. Here they passed 
the remainder of the day, cooking and eating with 
a voracity proportioned to previous starvation ; 
forgetting in the hearty revel of the moment, the 
certain dangers with which they were environed. 

The cravings of hunger being satisfied, they 
now began to debate about their further progress. 
The men were much disheartened by the hard- 
ships they had already endured. Indeed, two 
who had been in the rear guard, taking advan- 
tage of their position, had deserted and returned 
to the lodges of the Nez Percys. The prospect 
ahead was enough to stagger the stoutest heart. 



168 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

They were in the dead of winter. As far as the 
eye could reach the wild landscape was wrapped 
in snow ; which was evidently deepening as they 
advanced. Over tliis they would have to toil, 
with the icy wind blowing in their faces : their 
horses might give out through want of pastur- 
age ; and they themselves must expect intervals 
of horrible famine like that they had already ex- 
perienced. 

With Captain Bonneville, however, persever- 
ance was a matter of pride ; and having under- 
taken this enterprise, nothing could turn him 
back until it was accomplished : though he de- 
clares that, had he anticipated the difficulties and 
sufferings wliich attended it, he should have 
flmched from the undertaking. 

Onward, therefore, the little band urged their 
way, keeping along the course of a stream called 
John Day's Creek. The cold was so intense that 
they had frequently to dismount and travel on 
foot, lest they should freeze in their saddles. 
The days, which, at this season, are short enough 
even in the open prairies, were narrowed to a 
few hours by the high mountains, which allowed 
the travellers but a brief enjoyment of the cheer- 
ing rays of the sun. The snow was, generally, 
at least twenty inches in depth, and in many 
places much more : those who dismounted had 
to beat their way with toilsome steps. Eight 
miles were considered a good day's journey. The 
horses were almost famished ; for the herbage was 
covered by the deep snow, so that they had noth- 
ing to subsist upon but scanty wisps of the diy 



A FREEZING MARCH. 1G9 

bunch grass which peered above the surface, and 
the small branches and twigs of frozen willows 
and wormwood. 

In tliis way they urged their slow and painful 
course to the south down John Day's Creek, until 
it lost itself in a swamp. Here they encamped 
upon the ice among stiffened willows, where they 
were obliged to beat down and clear away the 
snow to procure pasturage for their horses. 

Hence, they toiled on to Godin River ; so 
called after an Iroquois hunter in the service of 
Sublette, who was murdered there by the Black- 
feet. Many of the features of this remote wil- 
derness are thus named after scenes of violence 
and bloodshed that occurred to the early pioneers. 
It was an act of filial vengeance on the part of 
Godin's son, Antoine, that, as the reader may 
recollect, brought on the recent battle at Pierre's 
Hole. 

From Godin's River, Captain Bonneville and 
his followers came out upon the plam of the 
Three Butes ; so called from three singular and 
isolated hills that rise from the midst. It is a 
part of the great desert of Snake River, one of 
the most remarkable tracts beyond the mountains. 
Could they have experienced a respite from their 
sufferings and anxieties, the immense landscape 
spread out before them was calculated to inspire 
admiration. Winter has its beauties and glories, 
as well as summer ; and Captain Bonneville had 
the soul to appreciate them. 

Far away, says he, over the vast plains, and 
up the steep sides of the lofty mountains, the 



170 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

snow lay spread in dazzling whiteness : and 
whenever the sun emerged in the morning above 
the giant peaks, or burst forth from among clouds 
in his mid-day course, mountain and dell, glazed 
rock and frosted tree, glowed and sparkled with 
surpassing lustre. The tall pines seemed sprink- 
led with a silver dust, and the willows, studded 
with minute icicles reflecting the prismatic rays, 
brought to mind the fairy trees conjured up by 
the caliph's story-teller, to adorn his vale of 
diamonds. 

The poor wanderers, however, nearly starved 
with hunger and cold, were in no mood to enjoy 
the glories of these brilliant scenes ; though they 
stamped pictures on their memory which have 
been recalled with delight in more genial situa- 
tions. 

Encamping at the west Bute, they found a 
place swept by the winds, so that it was bare 
of snow, and there was abundance of bunch 
grass. Here the horses were turned loose to 
graze throughout the night. Though for once 
they had ample pasturage, yet the keen winds 
were so intense, that, in the morning, a mule was 
found frozen to death. The trappers gathered 
round and mourned over him as over a cherished 
friend. They feared their half-famished horses 
would soon share his fate, for there seemed scarce 
blood enough left in their veins to withstand the 
freezing cold. To beat the way further through 
the snow with these enfeebled animals, seemed 
next to impossible ; and despondency began to 
creep over their hearts, when, fortunately, they 



THE WARY HORSEMAN. 171 

discovered a trail made by some hunting party. 
Into this they immediately entered, and pro- 
ceeded with less difficulty. Shortly afterward, a 
fine buffalo bull came bounding across the snow, 
and was instantly brought down by the hunters. 
A fire was soon blazing and crackling, and an 
ample repast soon cooked, and sooner dispatched, 
after which they made some further progress and 
then encamped. One of the men reached the 
camp nearly frozen to death; but good cheer 
and a blazing fire gradually restored life, and 
put his blood in circulation. 

Having now a beaten path, they proceeded the 
next morning with more facility ; indeed, the snow 
decreased in depth as they receded from the moun- 
tains, and the temperature became more mild. In 
the course of the day, they discovered a solitary 
horseman hovering at a distance before them on 
the plain. They spurred on to overtake him ; 
but he was better mounted on a fresher steed, and 
kept at a wary distance, reconnoitring them with 
evident distrust; for the wild dress of the free 
trappers, their leggins, blankets, and cloth caps 
garnished with fur and topped off with feathers, 
even their very elf-locks and weather-bronzed 
complexions, gave them the look of Indians rather 
than white men, and made him mistake them for 
a war party of some hostile tribe. 

After much maneuvering, the wild horseman was 
at length brought to a parley ; but even then he 
conducted himself with the caution of a knowing 
prowler of the prairies. Dismounting from his 
horse, and using liim as a breastwork, he levelled 



172 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

his gun across his back, and, thus prepared for 
defense like a wary cruiser upon the high seas, 
he permitted himself to be approached within 
speaking distance. 

He proved to be an Indian of the Banneck 
tribe, belonging to a band at no great distance. 
It was some time before he could be persuaded 
that he was conversing with a party of white men, 
and induced to lay aside his reserve and join them. 
He then gave them the interesting intelligence, 
that there were two companies of white men en- 
camped in the neighborhood. This was cheering 
news to Captain Bonneville ; who hoped to find 
in one of them the long-sought party of Matthieu. 
Pushing forward, therefore, with renovated sjDirits, 
he reached Snake River by nightfall, and there 
fixed his encampment. 

Early the next morning (13th January, 1833), 
dilio;ent search was made about the neighborhood 
for traces of the reported parties of white men. 
An encampment was soon discovered, about four 
miles further up the river ; in wliich Captain Bon- 
neville, to his great joy, found two of Matthieu's 
men, from whom he learnt that the rest of his 
party would be there in the course of a few days. 
It was a matter of great pride and self-gratulation 
to Captain Bonneville, that he had thus accom- 
plished his dreary and doubtful enterprise ; and he 
determined to pass some time in this encampment, 
both to wait the return of Matthieu, and to give 
needful repose to men and horses. 

It was, in foct, one of the most eligible and 
delightful wintering grounds in that whole range 



ENCAMPMENT ON SNAKE RIVER. 173 

of country. The Snake River here wound its 
devious way between low banks through the great 
plain of the Three Butes ; and was bordered by 
wide and fertile meadows. It was studded with 
islands, which, like the alluvial bottoms, were 
covered with groves of cotton-wood, thickets of 
willow, tracts of good lowland grass, and abund- 
ance of green rushes. The adjacent plains were 
so vast in extent, that no single band of Indians 
could drive the buffalo out of them ; nor was the 
snow of sufficient depth to give any serious incon- 
venience. Indeed, during the sojourn of Captain 
Bonneville in tliis neighborhood, which was in the 
heart of winter, he found the weather, with the 
exception of a few cold and stormy days, gene- 
rally mild and pleasant ; freezing a little at night, 
but invariably thawing with the morning's sun — 
resembling the spring weather in the middle parts 
of the United States. 

The lofty range of the Three Tetons, those 
great landmarks of the Rocky Mountains, rising in 
the east, and circling away to the north and west 
of the great plain of Snake River ; and the moun- 
tains of Salt River and Portneuf towards the 
south, catch the earliest falls of snow. Their 
white robes lengthen as the winter advances, and 
spread themselves far into the plain, driving the 
bufftilo in herds to the banks of the river in quest 
of food ; where they are easily slain in great 
numbers. 

Such were the palpable advantages of this 
winter encampment ; added to which, it was secure 
from the prowlings and plunderings of any petty 



174 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

band of roving Blackfeet ; the difficulties of retreat 
rendering it unwise for those crafty dej^redators 
to venture an attack, unless with an overpowering 
force. 

About ten miles below the encampment lay the 
Bauneck Indians ; numbering about one hundred 
and twenty lodges. They are brave and cunning 
warriors, and deadly foes of the Blackfeet, whom 
they easily overcome in battles where their forces 
are equal. They are not vengeful and enterprising 
in warfare, however ; seldom sending war parties 
to attack the Blackfeet towns, but contenting them- 
selves with defending their own territories and 
house. About one third of their warriors are 
armed with fusees ; the rest with bows and arrows. 

As soon as the spring opens, they move down 
the right bank of Snake River, and encamp at the 
heads of the Bois^e and Payette. Here their 
horses wax fat on good pasturage, while the tribe 
revels in plenty upon the flesh of deer, elk, bear, 
and beaver. They then descend a little further, 
and are met by the Lower Nez Perces, with whom 
they trade for horses ; giving in exchange beaver, 
buffalo, and buffalo robes. Hence they strike 
upon the tributary streams on the left bank of 
Snake River, and encamp at the rise of the Pprt- 
neuf and Blackfoot streams, in the buffalo range. 
Their horses, although of the Nez Perce breed, 
are inferior to the parent stock, from being ridden 
at too early an age ; being often bought when but 
two years old, and immediately put to hard work. 
They have fewer horses, also, than most of these 
migratory tribes. 



THE HORSE CHIEF. 175 

At the time that Captain Bonneville came into 
the neighborhood of these Indians, they were all 
in mourning for their chief, surnamed The Horse. 
This chief was said to possess a charmed life, or 
rather, to be invulnerable to lead ; no bullet having 
ever liit liim, though he had been in repeated 
battles, and often shot at by the surest marksmen. 
He had shown great magnanimity in liis intercourse 
with the white men. One of the great men of 
his family had been slain in an attack upon a band 
of trappers passing through the territories of his 
tribe. Vengeance had been sworn by the Ban- 
necks ; but The Horse interfered, declaring him- 
self the friend of white men, and, having great 
influence and authority among his people, he com- 
pelled them to forego all vindictive plans, and to 
conduct themselves amicably whenever they came 
in contact with the traders. 

This chief had bravely fallen in resisting an at- 
tack made by the Blackfeet upon his tribe, while 
encamped at the head of Godin River. His fall 
in nowise lessened the faith of his people in his 
charmed life ; for they declared that it was not a 
bullet wliich laid him low, but a bit of horn which 
had been shot into him by some Blackfoot marks- 
man ; aware, no doubt, of the inefficacy of lead. 
Since his death, there was no one with suflficient 
influence over the tribe to restrain the wild and 
predatory propensities of the young men. The 
consequence was, they had become troublesome 
and dangerous neighbors ; openly friendly, for the 
sake of traffic, but disposed to commit secret de- 
predations, and to molest any small party that 
miffht fall within their reach. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Misadventures of Matthieu and his party. — Return to the 
caches at Salmon River. — Battle between Nez Percys and 
Blackfeet. — Heroism of a Nez Perce woman — enrolled 
among the braves. 




N the 3d of February, Matthieu, with 
the residue of liis band, arrived in camp. 
He had a disastrous story to relate. 
After parting with Captain Bonneville in Green 
River Valley, he had proceeded to the westward, 
keepmg to the north of the Eutaw Mountains, a 
spur of the great Rocky chain. Here he experi- 
enced the most rugged travelling for his horses, 
and soon discovered that there was but little 
chance of meeting the Shoshonie bands. He now 
proceeded along Bear River, a stream much fre- 
quented by trappers ; intending to shape his course 
to Salmon River, to rejoin Captain Bonneville. 

He was misled, however, either through the 
ignorance or treachery of an Indian guide, and 
conducted into a wild valley, where he lay en- 
camjied during the autumn and the early part of 
the winter, nearly buried in snow, and almost 
starved. Early in the season he detached five 
men, with nine horses, to proceed to the neighbor- 
hood of the Sheep Rock, on Bear River, where 
game was plenty, and there to procure a supply 



ENCOUNTER WITH INDIANS. 177 

for the camp. They had not proceeded for on 
their expedition, when their trail was discovered 
by a party of nine or ten Indians, who immediately 
commenced a lurking pursuit, dogging them se- 
cretly for five or six days. So long as their en- 
campments were well chosen, and a proper watch 
maintained, the wary savages kept aloof; at length, 
observing that they were badly encamped, in a 
situation where they might be approached with 
secrecy, the enemy crept stealthily along under 
cover of the river bank, preparing to burst sud- 
denly upon their prey. 

They had not advanced within striking distance, 
however, before they were discovered by one of 
the trappers. He immediately, but silently, gave 
the alarm to his companions. They all sprang 
upon their horses, and prepared to retreat to a 
safe position. One of the party, however, named 
Jennings, doubted the correctness of the alarm, 
and, before he mounted his horse, wanted to as- 
certain the fact. His companions urged him to 
mount, but in vain ; he was incredulous and ob- 
stinate. A volley of fire-arms by the savages dis- 
pelled his doubts ; but so overpowered his nerves, 
that he was unable to get into his saddle. His 
comrades, seeing his peril and conflision, gener- 
ously leapt from their horses to ,protect liim. A 
shot from a rifle brought him to the earth ; in his 
agony he called upon the others not to desert him. 
Two of them, Le Roy and Ross, after fighting 
desperately, were captured by the savages ; the 
remaining two vaulted into their saddles, and saved 
themselves by headlong flight, being pursued for 
12 



178 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

nearly thirty miles. They got safe back to 
Matthieu's camp, where their story mspired such 
dread of lurking Indians, that the hunters could 
not be prevailed upon to undertake another foray 
in quest of provisions. They remained, therefore, 
almost starving in their camp ; now and then kill- 
ing an old or disabled horse for food, while the 
elk and the mountain sheep roamed unmolested 
amonor the surroundinor mountains. 

The disastrous surprisal of this hunting party 
is cited by Captain Bonneville to show the im- 
portance of vigilant watcliing and judicious en- 
campments in the Indian country. Most of these 
kind of disasters to traders and trappers arise from 
some careless inattention to the state of their 
arms and ammunition, the placing of their horses 
at night, the position of their camping ground, and 
the posting of their night watches. The Indian is 
a vigilant and crafty foe ; by no means given to 
harebrained assaults ; he seldom attacks when he 
finds his foe well prepared and on the alert. Cau- 
tion is at least as efficacious a protection against 
him as courage. 

The Indians who made this attack were at first 
supposed to be Blackfeet ; until Captain Bonne- 
ville found, subsequently, m the camp of the Ban- 
necks a horse, saddle, and bridle, which he re- 
coornized as having belonored to one of the hunters. 
The Bannecks, however, stoutly denied having 
taken these spoils in fight, and persisted in affirm- 
ing that the outrage had been perjjetrated by a 
Blackfoot band. 

Captain Bonneville remained on Snake River 



HARDSHIPS OF THE MARCH. 179 

nearly three weeks after the arrival of Matthieu 
and his party. At length his horses having re- 
covered strength sufficient for a journey, he pre- 
pared to return to the Nez Perces, or rather to 
visit his caches on Salmon River ; that he might 
take thence goods and equipments for the opening 
season. Accordingly, leaving sixteen men at 
Snake River, he set out, on the 19th of February, 
with sixteen others, on his journey to the caches. 

Fording the river, he proceeded to the borders 
of the deep snow, when he encamped under the 
lee of immense f)iles of burnt rock. On the 21st 
he was aojain flounderinor throus^h the snow, on 
the great Snake River plain, where it lay to the 
depth of thirty inches. It was sufficiently in- 
crusted to bear a pedestrian ; but the poor horses 
broke through the crust, and plunged and strained 
at every step. So lacerated were they by the ice, 
that it was necessary to change the front every 
hundred yards, and put a diffisrent one in the ad- 
vance, to break the way. The open prairies were 
swept by a piercing and biting wind from the 
northwest. At night, they had to task their in- 
genuity to provide shelter and keep from freezing. 
In the first place, they dug deep holes in the snow, 
piling it up in ramparts to windward, as a protec- 
tion against the blast. Beneath these, they spread 
buffido skins ; upon which they stretched them- 
selves in full dress, with caps, cloaks, and moc- 
casins, and covered themselves with numerous 
blankets; notwithstanding all which, they were 
often severely pinched with the cold. 

On the 28th of February, they arrived on the 



180 B ONNE VILLE? S AD VENTURES. 

banks of Goclin Eiver. This stream emerges 
from the mountains opposite an eastern branch 
of the Malade River, running southeast, forms a 
deep and swift current about twenty yards wide, 
passing rapidly through a defile to which it gives 
its name, and then enters the great j^lain, where, 
after meandering about forty miles, it is finally 
lost in the region of the Burnt Rocks. 

On the banks of this river. Captain Bonneville 
was so fortunate as to come upon a buifalo trail. 
Following it up, he entered the defile, where he 
remained encamped for two days, to allow the 
hunters time to kill and dry a supply of buffalo 
beef. In this sheltered defile, the weather was 
moderate, and grass was already sprouting more 
than an inch in height. There was abundance, 
too, of the salt weed ; wliich grows most plenti- 
ful in clayey and gravelly barrens. It resembles 
pennyroyal, and derives its name from a partial 
saltness. It is a nourishing food for the horses 
in the winter, but they reject it the moment the 
young grass affords sufficient j^asturage. 

On the 6th of March, having cured sufficient 
meat, the party resumed their march, and moved 
on with comparative ease, exceptmg where they 
had to make their way through snow-drifts which 
had been piled up by the wind. 

On the 11th, a small cloud of smoke was ob- 
served rising in a deep part of the defile. An 
encampment was instantly formed, and scouts 
were sent out to reconnoitre. They returned 
with intelligence that it was a hunting party of 
Flatheads, returning from the buffalo range laden 



BLACKFOOT AMBUSCADE. 181 

with meat. Captain Bonneville joined them the 
next day, and persuaded them to proceed with 
his party a few miles below, to the caches, whith- 
er he proposed also to invite the Nez Perces, 
whom he hoped to find somewhere in this neigh- 
borhood. In fact, on the 13th, he was rejoined 
by that friendly tribe, who, since he separated 
from them on Salmon River, had likewise been 
out to hunt the buffalo, but had continued to be 
haunted and harassed by their old enemies the 
Blackfeet, who, as usual, had contrived to carry 
off many of their horses. 

In the course of this hunting expedition, a 
small band of ten lodges separated from the main 
body, in search of better pasturage for their 
horses. About the 1st of March, the scattered 
parties of Blackfoot banditti united to the num- 
ber of three hundred figliting men, and deter- 
mined u23on some signal blow. Proceeding to 
the former camping ground of the Nez Percys, 
they found the lodges deserted ; upon wliich, they 
hid themselves among the willows and thickets, 
watching for some straggler, who might guide 
them to the present " whereabout " of their 
intended victims. As fortune would have it, 
Kosato, the Blackfoot renegade, was the first to 
pass along, accompanied by his blood-bought 
bride. He was on his way from the main body 
of hunters to the little band of ten lodges. The 
Blackfeet knew and marked him as he passed ; 
he was within bow-shot of their ambuscade ; yet, 
much as they thirsted for his blood, they forbore 
to launch a shaft ; sparing him for the moment, 



182 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

that he might lead them to then' j^rey. Secretly 
foUowmg his trail, they discovered the lodges of 
the unfortunate Nez Perces, and assailed them 
with shouts and yellings. The Nez Percys num- 
bered only twenty men, and but nine were armed 
with fusees. They showed themselves, however, 
as brave and skillful in war as they had been 
mild and long-suffering in peace. Their first care 
was to dig holes inside of their lodges ; thus en- 
sconced, they fought desperately, laying several 
of the enemy dead uj^on the ground ; while they, 
though some of them were wounded, lost not a 
single warrior. 

During the heat of the battle, a woman of the 
Nez Perces, seeing her warrior badly wounded and 
unable to fight, seized his bow and arrows, and 
bravely and successfully defended liis person, con- 
tributing to the safety of the whole party. 

In another part of the field of action, a Nez 
Perc^ had crouched behind the trunk of a follen 
tree, and kept w^ a galling fire from his covert. 
A Blackfoot seeing this, procured a round log, 
and placing it before him as he lay prostrate, 
rolled it forward towards the trunk of the tree 
behind which his enemy lay crouched. It was 
a moment of breathless interest : whoever first 
showed himself would be in danger of a shot. 
The Nez Percys put an end to the suspense. 
The moment the logs touched, he sprang upon 
his feet, and discharged the contents of his fusee 
into the back of his antagonist. B}'- this time, 
the Blackfeet had got possession of the horses ; 
several of their warriors lay dead on the field, 



FATE OF KOSATO. 183 

and the Nez Percys, ensconced in their lodges, 
seemed resolved to defend themselves to the last 
gasp. It so happened that the chief of the Black- 
feet party was a renegade from the Nez Perces ; 
unlike Kosato, however, he had no vindictive 
rage against his native tribe, but was rather dis- 
posed, now he had got the booty, to spare all un- 
necessary effusion of blood. He held a long 
parley, therefore, with the besieged, and finally 
drew off his warriors, taking with him seventy 
horses. It appeared, afterwards, that the bullets 
of the Blackfeet had been entirely expended in 
the course of the battle, so that they were 
obliged to make use of stones as substitutes. 

At the outset of the fight, Kosato, the rene- 
gade, fought with fiiry rather than valor : ani- 
mating the others by word as well as deed. A 
wound in the head from a rifle ball laid him 
senseless on the earth. There his body remained 
when the battle was over, and the victors were 
leading off the horses. His wife hung over him 
with frantic lamentations. The conquerors paused 
and urged her to leave the lifeless renegade, and 
return with them to her kindred. She refused 
to listen to their solicitations, and they passed 
on. As she sat watching the features of Kosato, 
and giving way to passionate grief, she thought 
she perceived him to breathe. She was not mis- 
taken. The ball, which had been nearly spent 
before it struck him, had stunned instead of kill- 
ing him. By the ministry of his faithful wife, 
he gradually recovered ; reviving to a redoubled 
love for her, and hatred of his tribe. 



184 



B ONNE VILLI? S AD VENTURES. 



As to the female who had so bravely defended 
her husband, she was elevated by the tribe to a 
rank far above her sex, and, beside other honor- 
able distinctions, was thenceforward permitted to 
take a part in the war dances of the braves ! 




CHAPTER XVII. 

Opening of the caches. — Detachments of Cerre and Hodg- 
kiss. — Sahnon River Mountains. — Superstition of an In- 
dian trapper. — Godin's River. — Preparations for trappings. 

— An alarm. — An interruption. — A rival band. — Phe- 
nomena of Snake River Plain. — Vast clefts and chasms. 

— Ingulfed streams. — Sublime scenery. — A grand buf- 
falo hunt. 




APTAIN BONNEVILLE found his 
caches perfectly secure, and having se- 
cretly opened them, he selected such ar- 
ticles as were necessary to equip the free trap- 
pers, and to supply the inconsiderable trade with 
the Indians, after which he closed them again. 
The free trappers being newly rigged out and 
supplied, were in high spirits, and swaggered 
gayly about the camp. To compensate all hands 
for past sufferings, and to give a cheerful spur to 
further operations, Captain Bonneville now gave 
the men what, in frontier phrase, is termed " a 
regular blow out." It was a day of uncouth 
gambols and frolics, and rude feasting. The In- 
dians joined in the sports and games, and was all 
mirth and good fellowship. 

It was now the middle of March, and Captain 
Bonneville made preparations to open the spring 
campaign. He had pitched upon Malade River 



186 B ONNE VILLE' S AD VEN T URES. 

for bis main trapping ground for the season. 
This is a stream which rises among the great 
bed of mountains north of the lava plain, and after 
a winding course, falls into Snake River. Pre- 
vious to bis departure, the captain dispatched Mr. 
Cerre with a few men, to visit the Indian villages 
and purchase horses ; he furnished his clerk, Mr. 
Hodgkiss, also with a small stock of goods, to 
keep up a trade with the Indians during the 
spring, for such peltries as they might collect, 
appointing the caches on Salmon River as the 
point of rendezvous, where they were to rejoin 
him on the 15 th of June following. 

This done, he set out for Malade River with 
a band of twenty-eight men, composed of hired 
and free trappers, and Indian hunters, together 
with eight squaws. Their route lay up along 
the right fork of Salmon River, as it passes 
through the deep defile of the mountains. They 
travelled very slowly, not above five miles a day, 
for many of the horses were so weak that they 
faltered and staggered as they walked. Pasturage, 
however, was now growing plentiful. There was 
abundance of fresh grass, which in some places 
had attained such height as to wave in the wind. 
The native flocks of the wilderness, the mountain 
sheep, as they are called by the trappers, were 
continually to be seen upon the hills between 
which they passed, and a good supply of mutton 
was provided by the hunters, as they were ad- 
vancing towards a region of scarcity. 

In the course of his journey. Captain Bonne- 
ville had occasion to remark an instance of the 



INDIAN SUPERSTITION. 187 

many notions, and almost superstitions, whicli 
prevail among the Indians, and among some of 
the white men, with respect to the sagacity of 
the beaver. The Indian hunters of his party 
were in the habit of exploring all the streams 
along which they passed, in search of " beaver 
lodges," and occasionally set their traps with 
some success. One of them however, though an 
experienced and skillful trapper, was invariably 
unsuccessful. Astonished and mortified at such 
unusual bad luck, he at length conceived tlie idea, 
that there was some odor about his person, of 
which the beaver got scent, and retreated at his 
approach. He immediately set about a thorough 
purification. Making a rude sweating house on 
the banks of the river, he would shut himself up 
until in a reeking perspiration, and then suddenly 
emerging, would plunge into the river. A num- 
ber of these sweatings and plungings having, as 
he supposed, rendered his person perfectly " ino- 
dorous," he resumed his trapping with renovated 
hope. 

About the beginning of April, they encamped 
upon Gk)din's River, where they found the swamp 
full of " muskrat houses." Here, therefore, Cap- 
tain Bonneville determined to remain a few days 
and make his first regular attempt at trapping. 
That his maiden campaign might open with 
spirit, he promised the Indians and free trappers 
an extra price for every muskrat they should 
take. All now set to work for the next day's 
sport. The utmost animation and gayety pre- 
vailed throughout the camp. Everything looked 



4 



188 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

auspicious for their spring campaign. The abun- 
dance of muskrats in the swamp, was but an 
earnest of the nobler game they were to find 
when they should reach the Malade River, and 
have a capital beaver country all to themselves, 
where they might trap at their leisure without 
molestation. 

In tlie midst of their gayety, a hunter came 
galloping into the camp, shouting, or rather yell- 
ing, " A trail ! a trail ! — lodge poles ! lodge 
poles ! " 

These were words full of meaning to a trap- 
per's ear. They intimated that there was some 
band in the neighborhood, and probably a hunt- 
ing party, as they had lodge poles for an en- 
campment. The hunter came up and told his 
story. He had discovered a fresh trail, in which 
the traces made by the dragging of lodge poles 
were distinctly visible. The buffalo, too, had 
just been driven out of the neighborhood, which 
showed that the hunters had already been on the 
range. 

The gayety of the camp was at an end ; all 
preparations for muskrat trapping were sus- 
pended, and all hands sallied forth to examine 
the trail. Their worst fears were soon con- 
firmed. Infallible signs showed the unknown 
party in the advance to be white men ; doubt- 
less, some rival band of trappers ! Here was 
competition when least expected ; and that, too, 
by a party already in the advance, who were 
driving tlie game before them. Captain Bonne- 
ville had now a taste of the sudden transitions to 



RIVAL TRAPPERS. 189 

which a trapper's life is subject. The buoyant 
confidence in an uninterrupted hunt was at an 
end ; every countenance lowered with gloom and 
disappointment. 

Captain Bonneville immediately dispatched 
two spies to overtake the rival party, and en- 
deavor to learn their plans ; in the meantime, he 
turned his back upon the swamp and its muskrat 
houses, and followed on at " long camps," which, 
in trapper's language, is equivalent to long stages. 
On the 6th of April, he met his spies returning. 
They had kept on the trail like hounds, until 
they overtook the party at the south end of 
Godin's Defile. Here they found them comfort- 
ably encamped, twenty-two prime trappers, all 
well appointed, with excellent horses in capital 
condition, led by Milton Sublette, and an able co- 
adjutor, named Jarvie, and in full march for the 
Malade hunting ground. 

This was stunning news. The Malade River 
was the only trapping ground within reach ; but 
to have to compete there with veteran trappers, 
perfectly at home among the mountains, and ad- 
mirably mounted, while they were so poorly 
provided with horses and trappers, and had but 
one man in their party acquainted with tlie 
country — it was out of the question ! 

The only hope that now remained, was that 
the snow, which still lay deep among the moun- 
tains of Godin River, and blocked up the usual 
pass to the Malade country, might detain the 
other party, until Captain Bonneville's horses 
should get once more into good condition in their 
present ample pasturage. 



I 



190 B ONNE VILLE' S AD VENTURES. 

The rival parties now encamped together, not 
out of companionship, but to keep an eye upon 
each other. Day after day passed by, without 
any possibility of getting to the Malade country. 
Sublette and Jarvie endeavored to force their 
way across the mountain ; but the snows lay so 
deep as to oblige them to turn back. In the 
meantime, the captain's horses were daily gain- 
ing strength, and their hoofs improving, which 
had been worn and battered by mountain service. 
The captain, also, was increasing his stock of 
provisions, so that the delay was all in his favor. 

To any one who merely contemplates a map 
of the country, this difficulty of getting from 
Godin to Malade River will appear inexplicable, 
as the intervening mountains terminate in the 
great Snake River plain, so that, apparently, it 
would be perfectly easy to proceed round their 
bases. 

Here, however, occur some of the striking 
phenomena of this wild and sublime region. 
The great lower plain which extends to the feet 
of these mountains is broken up near their bases 
into crests and ridges, resembling the surges of 
the ocean breaking on a rocky shore. 

In a line with the mountains, the plain is 
gashed with numerous and dangerous chasms, 
from four to ten feet wide, and of great depth. 
Captain Bonneville attempted to sound some of 
these openings, but without any satisfactory re- 
sult. A stone dropped into one of them rever- 
berated against the sides for apparently a very 
great depth, and, by its sound, indicated the same 



SNAKE RIVER PLAIN. 191 

kind of substance with the surface, as long as 
the strokes could be heard. The horse, instinc- 
tively sagacious in avoiding danger shrinks back 
in alarm from the least of these chasms ; prick- 
ing up his ears, snorting and pawing, until per- 
mitted to turn away. 

We have been told by a person well ac- 
quainted with the country, that it is sometimes 
necessary to travel fifty and sixty miles, to get 
round one of these tremendous ravines. Consid- 
erable streams, like that of Godin's River, that 
run with a bold, free current, lose themselves in 
this plain ; some of them end in swamps, others 
suddenly disappear ; finding, no doubt, subterra- 
nean outlets. 

Opposite to these chasms, Snake River makes 
two desperate leaps over precipices, at a short 
distance from each other ; one twenty, the other 
forty feet in height. 

The volcanic plain in question forms an area 
of about sixty miles in diameter, where nothing 
meets the eye but a desolate and awful waste ; 
where no grass grows nor water runs, and where 
nothing is to be seen but lava. Ranges of 
mountains skirt this plain, and, in Captain Bon- 
neville's opinion, were formerly connected, until 
rent asunder by some convulsion of nature. Far 
to the east, tlie Three Tetons lift their heads sub- 
limely, and dominate this wide sea of lava; — one 
of the most striking features of a wilderness 
where everything seems on a scale of stern and 
simple grandeur. 

We look forward with impatience for some 



192 B ONNE VILLP S AD VEN T URES. 

able geologist to explore this sublime, but almost 
unknown region. 

It was not until the 25th of April, that the 
two parties of trappers broke up their encamp- 
ments, and undertook to cross over the southwest 
end of the mountain by a pass explored by their 
scouts. From various points of the mountain, 
they commanded boundless prospects of the lava 
plain, stretching away in cold and gloomy bar- 
renness as far as the eye could reach. On the 
evening of the 26th, they reached the plain west 
of the mountain, watered by the Malade, the 
Boisee, and other streams, which comprised the 
contemplated trapping ground. 

The country about the Boisee (or Woody) 
River, is extolled by Captain Bonneville as tlie 
most enchanting he had seen in the Far West: 
presenting the mingled grandeur and beauty of 
mountain and plain ; of bright running streams 
and vast grassy meadows waving to the breeze. 

We shall not follow the captain throughout his 
trapping campaign, which lasted until the begin- 
ning of June ; nor detail all the maneuvers of 
the rival trapping parties, and their various 
schemes to outwit and out-trap each other. Suf- 
fice it to say, that after having visited and camped 
about various streams with various success, Cap- 
tain Bonneville set forward early in June for the 
appointed rendezvous at the caches. On the 
way, he treated his party to a grand buffalo hunt. 
The scouts had reported numerous herds in a 
plain beyond an intervening height. There was 
an immediate halt ; the fleetest horses were 



BUFFALO HUNT. 193 

forthwith mounted, and the party advanced to 
the summit of the hill. Hence they beheld the 
great plain below absolutely swarming with buf- 
falo. Captain Bonneville now appointed the 
place where he would encamp ; and towards 
which the liunters were to drive the game. He 
cautioned the latter to advance slowly, reserving 
the strength and speed of the horses, until within 
a moderate distance of the herds. Twenty-two 
horsemen descended cautiously into the plain, 
conformably to these directions. " It was a 
beautiful sight," says the captain, " to see the 
runners, as tliey are called, advancing in column, 
at a slow trot, mitil within two hundred and fifty 
yards of the outskirts of the herd, then dashing 
on at full speed, until lost in the immense multi- 
tude of buffixloes scouring the plain in every di- 
rection." All was now tumult and wild confu- 
sion. In the meantime. Captain Bonneville and 
the residue of the party moved on to the ap- 
pointed camping ground ; thither the most expert 
runners succeeded in driving numbers of buffalo, 
which were killed hard by the camp, and the 
flesh transported thither without difficulty. In a 
little while the whole camp looked like one great 
slaughter-house ; the carcasses were skillfully cut 
up, great fires were made, scaffolds erected for 
drying and jerking beef, and an ample provision 
was made for future subsistence. On the 15th 
of June, the precise day appointed for the ren- 
dezvous, Captain Bonneville and his- party ar- 
rived safely at the caches. 

Here he was joined by the other detachments 
13 



194 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

of his main party, all in good health and spirits. 
The caches were again opened, supplies of vari- 
ous kinds taken out, and a liberal allowance of 
aqua vitce distributed throughout the camp, to 
celebrate with proper conviviality this merry 
meeting. 




i 




CHAPTER XVIIL 

Meeting with Hodgkiss. — Misfortunes of the Nez Percys. — 
Schemes of Kosato, the renegado — his foray into the Horse 
Prairie. — Invasion of Blackfeet. — Blue John, and his 
forlorn hope — their generous enterprise — their fate. — 
Consternation and despair of the village. — Solemn obse- 
quies. —Attempt at Indian trade. -- Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany's monopoly. — Arrangements for autumn. — Breaking 
up of an encampment. 

AVING now a pretty strong party, well 
armed and equipped. Captain Bonne- 
ville no longer felt the necessity of 
fortifying himself in the secret places and fast- 
nesses of the mountains ; but sallied forth boldly 
into the Snake River plain, in search of his clerk, 
Hodgkiss, who had remained with the Nez 
Perces. He found him on the 24th of June, 
and learnt from him another chapter of misfor- 
tunes which had recently befiillen that ill-fated 
race. 

After the departure of Captain Bonneville, iu 
March, Kosato, the renegade Blackfoot, had re- 
covered from the wound received in battle ; and 
with his strength revived all his deadly hostility 
to his native tribe. He now resumed Ids efforts 
to stir up the Nez Perces to reprisals upon their 
old enemies ; reminding them incessantly of all 



196 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

the outrages and robberies they had recently ex- 
perienced, and assuring them that such would 
continue to be their lot, until they proved them- 
selves men by some signal retaliation. 

The impassioned eloquence of the desperado, 
at length produced an effect ; and a band of 
braves enlisted under his guidance, to penetrate 
into the Blackfoot country, harass their villages, 
carry off their horses, and commit all kinds of 
depredations. 

Kosato pushed forward on his foray, as far as 
the Horse Prairie ; where he came upon a strong 
party of Blackfeet. Without waiting to esti- 
mate their force, he attacked them with charac- 
teristic fury, and was bravely seconded by his 
followers. The contest, for a time, was hot and 
bloody : at length, as is customary with these two 
tribes, they paused, and held a long parley, or 
rather a war of words. 

" What need," said the Blackfoot chief, taunt- 
ingly, " have the Nez Perccs to leave their homes, 
and sally forth on war parties, when they have 
danger enough at their own doors ? If you want 
lighting, return to your villages ; you will have 
plenty of it there. The Blackfeet warriors have 
hitherto made war upon you as children. They 
are now coming as men. A great force is at 
hand ; they are on their way to your towns, and 
are determined to rub out the very name of the 
Nez Perces from the mountains. Return, I say, 
to your towns, and fight there, if you wish to live 
any longer as a people." 

Kosato took him at his word ; for he knew the 



BLUE JOHN'S ENTERPRISE. 197 

character of his native tribe. Hastening back 
with his band to the Nez Perce viUage, he told 
all that he had seen and heard ; and urged the 
most prompt and strenuous measures for defense. 
The Nez Perces, however, heard him with their 
accustomed phlegm : the threat of the Blackfeet 
had been often made, and as often had proved a 
mere bravado ; such they pronounced it to be at 
present, and, of course, took no precautions. 

They were soon convinced that it was no 
empty menace. In a few days, a band of three 
hundred Blackfeet warriors appeared upon the 
hills. All now was consternation in the village. 
The force of the Nez Perces was too small to 
cope with the enemy in open fight ; many of the 
young men having gone to their relatives on the 
Columbia to procure horses. The sages met in 
hurried council. What was to be done to ward 
off a blow which threatened annihilation ? In 
this moment of imminent peril, a Pierced-nose 
chief, named Blue John by the whites, offered to 
approach secretly with a small, but chosen band, 
through a defile which led to the encampment 
of the enemy, and, by a sudden onset, to drive 
off the horses. Should this blow be successful, 
the spirit and strength of the invaders would be 
broken, and the Nez Perces, having horses, 
would be more than a match for them. Sliould 
it fail, the village would not be worse off than at 
present, when destruction appeared inevitable. 

Twenty-nine of the choicest warriors instantly 
volunteered to follow Blue John in this hazard- 
ous enterprise. They prepared for it with tiie 



198 B ONNE villi: S AD VEN T URES. 

solemnity and devotion peculiar to the tribe. 
Blue John consulted his medicine, or talismanic 
charm, such as every chief keeps in his lodge as 
a supernatural protection. The oracle assured 
him that his enterprise would be completely suc- 
cessful, provided no rain should fall before he had 
passed through the defile ; but should it rain, his 
band would be utterly cut ofi; 

The day was clear and bright ; and Blue John 
anticipated that the skies would be propitious. 
He departed in high spirits with his forlorn 
hope ; and never did band of braves make a 
more gallant display — horsemen and horses be- 
ing decorated and equipped in the fiercest and 
most glaring style — glittering with arms and 
ornaments, and fluttering with feathers. 

The weather continued serene, until they 
reached the defile; but just as they were enter- 
ing it, a black cloud rose over the mountain crest, 
and there was a sudden shower. The warriors 
turned to their leader as if to read his opinion of 
this unlucky omen ; but the countenance of Blue 
John remained unchanged, and they continued to 
press forward. It was their hope to make their 
way, undiscovered, to the very vicinity of the 
Black foot camp ; but they had not proceeded far 
in the defile, when they met a scouting party of 
the enemy. They attacked and drove them 
amo!ig the hills, and were pursuing them with 
great eagerness, when they heard shouts and 
yells behind them, and beheld the main body of 
the Blackfeet advancing. 

The second chief wavered a little at the sight, 



I 



DEFEAT OF THE NEZ PERCES. 199 

and proposed an instant retreat. " We came to 
fight ! " replied Blue John, sternly. Then giv- 
ing his war-whoop, he sprang forward to the 
conflict. His braves followed him. They made 
a headlong charge upon the enemy ; not with 
the hope of victory, but the determination to sell 
their lives dearly. A frightful carnage rather 
than a regular battle, succeeded. The forlorn 
band laid heaps of their enemies dead at their 
feet, but were overwhelmed with numbers, and 
pressed into a gorge of the mountain, where they 
continued to fight until they were cut to pieces. 
One, only, of the thirty survived. He sprang on 
the horse of a Blackfoot warrior whom he had 
slain, and escaping at full speed, brought home 
the baleful tidings to his village. 

Who can paint the horror and desolation of 
the inhabitants ? The flower of their warriors 
laid low, and a ferocious enemy at their doors. 
The air was rent by the shrieks and lamenta- 
tions of the women, who, casting off their orna- 
ments, and tearing their hair, wandered about, 
frantically bewailing the dead, and predicting 
destruction to the living. The remaining war- 
riors armed themselves for obstinate defense ; but 
showed by their gloomy looks and sullen silence, 
that they considered defense hopeless. To their 
surprise, the Blackfeet refrained from pursuing 
their advantage; perhaps satisfied with the blood 
already shed, or disheartened by the loss they 
had themselves sustained. At any rate, they dis- 
appeared from the hills and it was soon ascer- 
tained that they had returned to the Horse 
Prairie. 



200 BONNEVILLKS ADVENTURES. 

The unfortunate Nez Perces now began once 
more to breathe. A few of their warriors, tak- 
ing pack-horses, repaired to the defile to bring 
away the bodies of their slaughtered brethren. 
They found them mere headless trunks ; and the 
wounds with which they were covered, showed 
how bravely they had fought. Their hearts, too, 
had been torn out and carried off; a proof of 
their signal valor ; for in devouring the heart of 
a foe renowned for bravery, or who has distin- 
guished himself in battle, the Indian victor thinks 
he appropriates to himself the courage of the de- 
ceased. 

Gathering the mangled bodies of the slain, and 
strapping them across their pack-horses, the war- 
riors returned, in dismal procession, to the village. 
The tribe came forth to meet them ; the women 
with piercing cries and wailino^s ; the men with 
downcast countenances, in which gloom and sor- 
row seemed fixed as if in marble. The muti- 
lated and almost undistinguishable bodies were 
placed in rows upon the ground, in the midst 
of the assemblage ; and the scene of heart-rend- 
ing anguish and lamentation that ensued, would 
have confounded those who insist on Indian 
stoicism. 

Such was the disastrous event that had over- 
whelmed the Nez Perce tribe, during the ab- 
sence of Captain Bonneville ; and he was in- 
formed that Kosato, the renegade, who, being 
stationed in the village, had been prevented from 
going on the forlorn hope, was again sti'iving to 
rouse the vindictive feelings of his adopted 



UNSUCCE'SSFUL ATTEMPT TO TRADE. 201 

brethren, and to prompt them to revenge the 
slaughter of their devoted braves. 

During his sojourn on the Snake River plain, 
Captain Bonneville made one of his first essays 
at the strategy of the fur trade. There was at 
this time an assemblage of Nez Perces, Flat- 
heads, and Cottonois Indians, encamped together 
upon the plain ; well provided with beaver, which 
they had collected during the spring. These 
they were waiting to traffic with a resident trader 
of the Hudson's Bay Company, who was sta- 
tioned among them, and with whom they were 
accustomed to deal. As it happened, the trader 
was almost entirely destitute of Indian goods; 
his spring supply not having yet reached him. 
Captain Bonneville had secret intelligence that 
supplies were on their way, and would soon ar- 
rive ; he hoped, however, by a prompt move, to 
anticipate their arrival, and secure the market to 
himself. Throwing himself, therefore, among 
the Indians, he opened his packs of merchandise, 
and displayed the most tempting wares ; bright 
cloths, and scarlet blankets, and glittering orna- 
ments, and everything gay and glorious in the 
eyes of warrior or squaw; all, however, was 
in vain. Tiie Hudson's Bay trader was a per- 
fect master of his business, thoroughly acquainted 
with the Indians he had to deal with, and held 
such control over them, that none dared to act 
openly in opposition to his wishes : nay more — 
he came nigh turning the tables upon the captain, 
and shaking the allegiance of some of his free 
trappers, by distributing liquors among them. 



202 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

The latter, therefore, was glad to give np a com- 
petition, where the war was likely to be carried 
into his own camp. 

In fact, the traders of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany have advantages over all competitors in the 
trade beyond the Rocky Mountains. That huge 
monopoly centres within itself not merely its own 
hereditary and long-established power and influ- 
ence ; but also those of its ancient rival, but now 
integral part, the famous Northwest Company. 
It has thus its races of traders, trappers, hunters, 
and voyageurs, born and brought up in its service, 
and inheriting from preceding generations a know- 
ledge and aptitude in everything connected with 
Indian life, and Indian traffic. In the process of 
years, this company has been enabled to spread 
its ramifications in every direction ; its system of 
intercourse is founded upon a long and intimate 
knowledge of the character and necessities of the 
various tribes ; and of all the fastnesses, defiles, 
and favorable hunting grounds of the country. 
Their capital, also, and the manner in wliicli their 
supplies are distributed at various posts, or for- 
warded by regular caravans, keep their traders 
well supplied, and enable them to furnish their 
goods to tiie Indians at a cheap rate. Their men, 
too, being chiefly drawn from the Canadas, where 
they enjoy great influence and control, are en- 
gaged at the most trifling wages, and supported 
at little cost ; the provisions which they take with 
them being little more than Indian corn and 
grease. They arc brought, also, into the most 
perfect discipline and subordination, especially 



THE COTTON OIS FEAR THE BLACK FEET. 203 

when their leaders have once got them to their 
scene of action in the heart of the wilderness. 

These circumstances combine to give the leaders 
of the Hudson's Bay Company a decided advan- 
tage over all the American companies that come 
within their range ; so that any close competition 
with them is almost hopeless. 

Shortly after Captain Bonneville's ineffectual 
attempt to participate in the trade of the asso- 
ciated camp, the supplies of the Hudson's Bay 
Company arrived ; and the resident trader was 
enabled to monopolize the market. 

It was now the beginning of July : in the lat- 
ter part of which month. Captain Bonneville had 
appointed a rendezvous at Horse Creek, in Green 
River Valley, with some of the parties which he 
had detached in the preceding year. He now 
turned his thoughts in that direction, and prepared 
for the journey. 

The Cottonois were anxious for him to proceed 
at once to their country ; which, they assured him, 
abounded in beaver. The lands of this tribe lie 
immediately north of those of the Flatheads, and 
are open to the inroads of the Blackfeet. It is 
true, the latter professed to be their allies ; but 
they had been guilty of so many acts of perfidy, 
that the Cottonois had, latterly, renounced their 
hollow friendship, and attached themselves to 
the Flatheads and Nez Perces. These they had 
accompanied in their migrations, rather than re- 
main alone at home, exposed to the outrages of 
the Blackfeet. They were now apprehensive that 
these marauders would range their country dur- 



L 



204 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

ing their absence, and destroy the beaver: this 
was their reason for urging Captain Bonneville 
to make it his autumnal hunting ground. The 
latter, however, was not to be tempted : his en- 
gagements required his presence at the rendezvous 
in Green Eiver Valley ; and he had already 
formed his ulterior plans. 

An unexpected difficulty now arose. The 
free trappers suddenly made a stand, and declined 
to accompany him. It was a long and weary 
journey ; the route lay through Pierre's Hole, 
and other mountain passes infested by the Black- 
feet, and recently the scenes of sanguinary con- 
flicts. They were not disposed to undertake such 
unnecessary toils and dangers, when they had 
good and secure trapping grounds nearer at hand, 
on the head waters of Salmon River. 

As these were free and independent fellows, 
whose will and whim were apt to be law — who 
had the whole wilderness before them, " where to 
choose," and the trader of a rival company at 
hand, ready to pay for their services — it was 
necessary to bend to their wishes. Captain Bon- 
neville fitted them out, therefore, for the hunting 
ground in question ; appointing Mr. Hodgkiss 
to act as their partisan, or leader, and fixing a 
rendezvous where he should meet them in the 
course of the ensuing winter. The brigade con- 
sisted of twenty-one free trappers, and four or 
five hired men as camp-keepers. This was not 
the exact arrangement of a trapping party ; 
which, when accurately organized, is composed 
of two thirds trappers, whose duty leads them 



DISPERSION OF THE CAMPS. 205 

continuiilly abroad in pursuit of game ; and one 
tliird camp-keepers, who cook, pack, and unpack ; 
set up the tents, take care of the horses, and do 
all other duties usually assigned by the Indians to 
their women. This part of the service is apt to 
be fulfilled by French Creoles from Canada and 
the valley of the Mississippi. 

In tlie meantime, the associated Indians, having 
completed their trade and received their supplies, 
were all ready to disperse in various directions. 

As there was a forinidable band of Blackfeet 
just over a mountain to the northeast, by which 
Hodgkiss and his free trappers would have to 
pass ; and as it was known that those sharp- 
sighted marauders had their scouts out, watching 
every movement of the encampments, so as to 
cut oflf stragglers or weak detachments, Captain 
Bonneville prevailed upon the Nez Perces to ac- 
company Hodgkiss and his party, until they 
should be beyond the range of the enemy. 

The Cottonois, and the Pends Oreilles, deter- 
mined to move together at the same time, and to 
pass close under the mountain infested by the 
Blackfeet ; while Captain Bonneville, with his 
party, was to strike in an opposite direction to the 
southeast, bending his course for Pierre's Hole, 
on his way to Green River. 

Accordingly, on the 6th of July, all the camps 
were raised at the same moment ; each party 
taking its separate route. The scene was wild 
and picturesque : the long line of traders, trap- 
pers, and Indians, with their rugged and fantas- 
tic dresses and accoutrements ; their varied weap- 



206 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

ons, their innumerable horses, some under the 
saddle, some burdened with packages, others fol- 
lowing in droves ; all stretching in lengthening 
cavalcades across the vast landscape, and making 
for different points of the plains and mountains. 





CHAPTER XIX. 

Precautions in dangerous defiles. — Trappers' mode of defense 
on a prairie. — A mysterious visitor. — Arrival in Green 
River Valley. — Adventures of the detachments. — The 
forlorn partisan — his tale of disasters. 

S the route of Captain Bonneville lay 
through what was considered the most 
perilous part of this region of dangers, 
he took all his measures with military skill, and 
observed the strictest circumspection. When on 
the march, a small scouting party was thrown 
in the advance, to reconnoitre the coimtry through 
wliich they were to pass. The encampments 
were selected with great care, and a watch was 
kept up night and day. The horses were brought 
in and picketed at night, and at daybreak a party 
was sent out to scour the neighborhood for half a 
mile round, beating up every grove and thicket 
that could give shelter to a hirking foe. When 
all was reported safe, the horses were cast loose 
and turned out to graze. Were such precautions 
generally observed by traders and hunters, we 
should not so often hear of parties being sur- 
prised by the Indians. 

Having stated the military arrangements of 
the captain, we may here mention a mode of 
defense on the open prairie, which we have heard 



J 



208 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

from a veteran in the Indian trade. 'Wlien a 
party of trappers is on a journey with a convoy 
of goods or peltries, every man has three pack- 
horses under his care ; each horse laden with 
three packs. Every man is provided with a 
picket with an iron head, a mallet, and hobbles, 
or leathern fetters for the horses. The trappers 
jjroceed across the prairie in a long line ; or 
sometimes three parallel lines, sufficiently distant 
from each other to prevent the packs from mter- 
fering. At an alarm, when there is no covert at 
hand, the line wheels so as to bring the front to 
the rear and form a circle. All then dismount, 
drive their pickets into the ground in the centre, 
fasten the horses to them, and hobble their fore 
legs, so that, in case of alarm, they cannot break 
away. They then unload them, and dispose of 
their packs as breastworks on the periphery of the 
circle ; each man having nine packs behind wliich 
to shelter himself. In this promptly -formed fort- 
ress, they await the assault of the enemy, and are 
enabled to set large bands of Indians at defiance. 
The first night of his march, Captain Bonne- 
ville encami3ed upon Henry's Fork ; an upper 
branch of Snake River, called after the first 
American trader that erected a fort beyond the 
mountains. About an hour after all hands had 
come to a halt the clatter of hoofs was heard, and 
a solitary female, of the Nez Perc^j tribe, came gal- 
loping up. She was mounted on a mustang, or 
half-wild horse, which she managed by a long 
rope hitched round the under jaw by way of 
bridle. Dismounting, she walked silently into 



NEW RECRUIT. 209 

the midst of the camp, and there seated herself 
on the ground, still holding her horse by the long 
halter. 

The sudden and lonely apparition of this 
woman, and her calm, yet resolute demeanor, 
awakened universal curiosity. The hunters and 
trappers gathered round, and gazed on her as 
somethmg mysterious. She remained silent, but 
maintained her air of calmness and self-possession. 
Captain Bonneville approached and interrogated 
her as to the object of her mysterious visit. Her 
answer was brief but earnest — "I love the 
whites — I will go with them." She was forth- 
with invited to a lodge, of which she readily 
took possession, and from that time forward was 
considered one of the camp. 

Li consequence, very probably, of the military 
precautions of Captain Bonneville, he conducted 
his party in safety through this hazardous region. 
No accident of a disastrous kind occurred, ex- 
cepting the loss of a horse, wliich, in passing along 
the giddy edge of the precipice, called the Cor- 
nice, a dangerous pass between Jackson's and 
Pierre's Hole, fell over the brink and was dashed 
to pieces. 

On the 13th of July, (1833,) Captain Bonne- 
ville arrived at Green River. As he entered the 
valley, he beheld it strewed in every direction 
with the carcasses of buffiiloes. It was evident 
that Lidians had recently been there, and in great 
numbers. Alarmed at this sight, he came to a 
halt, and as soon it was dark, sent out spies to his 
place of rendezvous on Horse Creek, where he 
14 



210 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

had expected to meet with his detached parties of 
trappers on the following day. Early in the 
morning, the spies made their appearance in the 
camp, and with them came three trappers of one 
of his bands, from the rendezvous, who told him 
his people were all there expecting him. As to 
the slaughter among the buffaloes, it had been 
made by a friendly band of Shoshonies, who had 
fallen in with one of his trapping parties, and 
accompanied them to the rendezvous. Having 
imparted this intelligence, the three worthies from 
the rendezvous broached a small keg of " alcohol," 
which they had brought with them, to enliven this 
merry meeting. The liquor went briskly round ; 
all absent friends were toasted, and the party 
moved forward to the rendezvous in high spirits. 
The meeting of associated bands, who have 
been separated from each other on these hazard- 
ous enterprises, is always interesting ; each having 
its tale of perils and adventures to relate. Such 
was the case with the various detachments of 
Captain Bonneville's company, thus brought 
together on Horse Creek. Here was the de- 
tachment of fifty men which he had sent from 
Salmon River, in the preceding month of No- 
vember, to winter on Snake River. They had 
met with many crosses and losses in the course 
of their sprmg hunt, not so much from Indians as 
from wliite men. They had come in competition 
with rival trapping parties, particularly one be- 
longing to the Rocky Mountain Fur Company ; 
and they had long stories to relate of their 
maneuvers to forestall or distress each other. 



A FORLORX PARTISAN. 211 

In fact, in these virulent and sordid competitions, 
the trappers of each party were more intent upon 
injuring their rivals, than benefiting themselves ; 
breaking each other's traps, trampling and tearing 
to pieces the beaver lodges, and doing everytliing 
in their power to mar the success of the hunt. 
We forbear to detail these pitiful contentions. 

The most lamentable tale of disasters, how- 
ever, that Captain Bonneville had to hear, was 
from a partisan, whom he had detached in the 
preceding year, with twenty men, to hunt through 
the outskirts of the Crow country, and on the 
tributary streams of the Yellowstone ; whence 
he was to proceed and join him in his winter 
quarters on Salmon River. This partisan ap- 
peared at the rendezvous without his party, and 
a sorrowful tale of disasters had he to relate. In 
hunting the Crow country, he fell in with a village 
of that tribe ; notorious rogues, jockeys, and horse 
stealers, and errant scamperers of the mountains. 
These decoyed most of his men to desert, and 
carry off horses, traps, and accoutrements. When 
he attempted to retake the deserters, the Crow 
warriors ruffled up to liim and declared the de- 
serters were their good friends, had determined to 
remain among them, and should not be molested. 
The poor partisan, therefore, was fain to leave 
his vagabonds among these birds of their own 
feather, and, being too weak in numbers to at- 
tempt the dangerous pass across the mountains to 
meet Captain Bonneville on Salmon River, he 
made, with the few that remained faithful to him, 
for the neighborhood of Tullock's Fort, on the 



212 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

Yellowstone, under the protection of which he 
went into winter quarters. 

He soon found out that the neighborhood of 
the fort was nearly as bad as the neighborhood of 
the Crows. His men were continually stealing 
away thither, with whatever beaver skins they 
could secrete or lay their hands on. These they 
would exchange with the hangers-on of the fort 
for whisky, and then revel in drunkenness and 
debauchery. 

The unlucky partisan made another move. 
Associating with his party a few free trapj^ers, 
whom he met with in this neighborhood, he started 
off early in the spring to trap on the head waters 
of Powder River. In the course of the journey, 
his horses were so much jaded in traversing a steep 
mountain, that he was induced to turn them loose 
to graze during the night. The place was lonely ; 
the path was rugged ; there was not the sign of 
an Indian in the neighborhood ; not a blade of 
grass that had been turned by a footstep. But 
who can calculate on security in the midst of the 
Indian country, where the foe lurks in silence and 
secrecy, and seems to come and go on the wmgs 
of the wind ? The horses had scarce been turned 
loose, when a couple of Arickara (or Rickaree) 
warriors entered the camp. They affected a frank 
and friendly demeanor ; but their appearance and 
movements awakened the suspicions of some of 
the veteran trappers, well versed in Indian wiles. 
Convinced that they were spies sent on some sin- 
ister errand, they took them in custody, and set to 
work to drive in the horses. It was too late — 



NEGOTIATION WITH ARICKARAS. 213 

the horses were already gone. In fact, a war 
party of Arickaras had been hovering on their 
trail for several days, watching with the patience 
and perseverance of Indians, for some moment 
of negligence and fancied security, to make a suc- 
cessful swoop. The two spies had evidently been 
sent into the camp to create a diversion, while 
their confederates carried off the spoil. 

The unlucky partisan, thus robbed of his horses, 
turned furiously on his j)risoners, ordered them to 
be bound hand and foot, and swore to jiut them 
to death unless his property were restored. The 
robbers, who soon found that their spies were in 
captivity, now made their appearance on horseback, 
and held a parley. The sight of them, mounted 
on the very horses they had stolen, set the blood 
of the mountaineers m a ferment ; but it was use- 
less to attack them, as they would have but to 
turn their steeds and scamper out of the reach of 
pedestrians. A negotiation was now attempted. 
The Arickaras offered what they considered fair 
terms ; to barter one horse, or even two horses, 
for a prisoner. The mountaineers spurned at 
their offer, and declared that, unless all the horses 
were relinquished, the prisoners should be burnt 
to death. To give force to their threat, a pyre 
of logs and fagots was heaped up and kindled into 
a blaze. 

The parley continued ; the Arickaras released 
one horse and then another, in earnest of their 
proposition ; finding, however, that nothing short 
of the relinquishment of all their spoils would 
purchase the lives of the captives, they abandoned 



214 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

them to their fete, moving off with many parting 
words and himentable howlings. The prisoners 
seeing them dej^art, and knowing the horrible fate 
that awaited them, made a desperate effort to 
escape. They jDartially succeeded, but were se- 
verely wounded and retaken ; then dragged to the 
blazing pyre, and burnt to death in the sight of 
their retreating comrades. 

Such are the savage cruelties that white men 
learn to practice, who mingle in savage life ; and 
such are the acts that lead to terrible recrimination 
on the part of the Indians. Should we hear of 
any atrocities committed by the Arickaras upon 
captive wliite men, let this signal and recent pro- 
vocation be borne in mind. Individual cases of 
the kind dwell in the recollections of whole tribes ; 
and it is a point of honor and conscience to re- 
venge them. 

The loss of his horses completed the ruin of 
the unlucky partisan. It was out of his power 
to prosecute his hunting, or to maintain his party ; 
the only thought now was how to get back to 
civilized life. At the first water-course, his men 
built canoes, and committed themselves to the 
stream. Some eno^aojed themselves at various 
trading establishments at which they touched, 
others got back to the settlements. As to the 
partisan, he found an opjjortunity to make his way 
to the rendezvous at Green River Valley ; which 
he reached in time to render to Captain Bonneville 
this forlorn account of his misadventures. 




CHAPTER XX. 

Gathering iu Green River Valley. — Visitings and feastings 
of leaders. — Rough wassailing among the trappers. — 
Wild blades of the mountains. — Indian belles. — Potency 
of bright beads and red blankets. — Arrival of supplies. — 
Revelry and extravagance. — Mad wolves. — The lost In- 
dian. 

HE Green River Valley was at his time 
the scene of one of those general gather- 
ings of traders, trappers, and Indians, 
that we have already mentioned. The three rival 
companies, which, for a year past had been en- 
deavoring to out-trade, out-trap, and out-wit each 
other, were here encamped in close proximity, 
awaiting their annual supplies. About four miles 
from the rendezvous of Captain Bonneville was 
that of the American Fur Company, hard by 
which, was that also of the Rocky Mountain Fur 
Company. 

After the eager rivalry and almost hostility dis- 
played by these companies in their late campaigns, 
it might be expected that, when thus brought in 
juxtaposition, they would hold themselves warily 
and sternly aloof from each other, and, should they 
happen to come in contact, brawl and bloodshed 
would ensue. 

No such thing ! Never did rival lawyers, after 
a wrangle at the bar, meet with more social good 



216 BON NEVILLES ADVENTURES. 

humor at a circuit dinner. The hunting season 
over, all past tricks and maneuvers are forgotten, 
all feuds and bickerings buried in oblivion. From 
\ I the middle of June to the middle of September, 
all trapping is suspended ; for the beavers are then 
shedding their ftirs, and their skins are of little 
value. This, then, is the trapper's holiday, when 
he is all for fun and frolic, and ready for a satur- 
nalia among the mountains. 

At the present season, too, all parties were in 
good humor. The year had been productive. 
Competition, by threatening to lessen their prof- 
its, had quickened their wits, roused their ener- 
gies, and made them turn every favorable chance 
to the best advantage ; so that, on assembling at 
their respective places of rendezvous, each com- 
pany found itself in possession of a rich stock of 
peltries. 

The leaders of the different companies, there- 
fore, mingled on terms of perfect good fellowship ; 
interchanging visits, and regaling each other in 
the best style their respective camps afforded. 
But the rich treat for the worthy captain was to 
see the " chivalry " of the various encampments, 
engaged in contests of skill at running, jumping, 
wrestling, shooting with the rifle, and running 
horses. And then their rough hunters' feastings 
and carousals. They drank together, they sang, 
they laughed, they whooped ; they tried to out- 
brag and outlie each other in stories of their 
adventures and achievements. Here the free 
trappers were in all their glory ; they considered 
themselves the " cocks of the walk," and always 



EXTRAVAGANCE OF TRAPPERS. 217 

carried the highest crests. Now and then famil- 
iarity was pushed too far, and would effervesce 
into a brawl, and a " rough and tumble " fight ; 
but it all ended in cordial reconciliation and 
maudlin endearment. 

The presence of the Shoshonie tribe contrib- 
uted occasionally to cause temporary jealousies 
and feuds. The Shoshonie beauties became ob- 
jects of rivalry among some of the amorous 
mountaineers. Happy was the trapper who 
could muster up a red blanket, a string of gay 
beads, or a paper of precious vermilion, with 
which to win the smiles of a Shoshonie fair one. 

The caravans of supplies arrived at the valley 
just at this period of gallantry and good-fellow- 
ship. Now commenced a scene of eager compe- 
tition and wild prodigality at the different en- 
campments. Bales were hastily ripped open, 
and their motley contents poured forth. A ma- 
nia for purchasing spread itself throughout the 
several bands, — munitions for war, for hunting, 
for gallantry, were seized upon with equal avid- 
ity — rifles, hunting knives, traps, scarlet cloth, 
red blankets, gairish beads, and glittering trinkets, 
were bought at any price, and scores run up 
without any thought how they were ever to be 
rubbed off. The free trappers, especially, were 
extravagant in their purchases. For a free 
mountaineer to pause at a paltry consideration 
of dollars and cents, in the attainment of any 
object that might strike his fancy, would stamp 
him with the mark of the beast iii the estimation 
of his comrades. For a trader to refuse one of 



218 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

these free and flourishing blades a credit, what- 
ever unpaid scores might stare liim in the face, 
would be a flagrant affront scarcely to be 
forgiven. 

Now succeeded another outbreak of revelry 
and extravagance. The trappers were newly 
fitted out and arrayed, and dashed about with 
their horses caparisoned in Indian style. The 
Shoshonie beauties also flaunted about in all the 
colors of the rainbow. Every freak of prodigal- 
ity was indulged to its full extent, and in a 
little while most of the trappers, having squan- 
dered away all their wages, and perhaps run 
knee-deep in debt, were ready for another hard 
campaign in the wilderness. 

During this season of folly and frolic, there 
was an alarm of mad wolves in the two lower 
camps. One or more of these animals entered 
the camps three nights successively, and bit sev- 
eral of the people. 

Captain Bonneville relates the case of an In- 
dian, who was a universal favorite in the lower 
camp. He had been bitten by one of these ani- 
mals. Being out with a party shortly after- 
wards, he grew silent and gloomy, and lagged 
behind the rest as if he wished to leave them. 
They halted and urged liim to move faster, but 
he entreated them not to approach him, and, leap- 
ing from his horse, began to roll frantically on 
the earth, gnashing his teeth and foaming at the 
mouth. Still he retained his senses, and warned 
his companions not to come near him, as he 
should not be able to restrain himself from biting 



CASES OF HYDROPHOBTA. 219 

them. They hurried off to obtain relief ; but on 
their return he was nowhere to be found. His 
horse and accoutrements remained upon the spot. 
Three or four days afterwards a solitary Indian, 
believed to be the same, was observed crossing a 
valley, and pursued ; but he darted away into the 
fastnesses of the mountains, and was seen no 
more. 

Another instance we have from a different per- 
son who was present in the encampment. One of 
the men of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company 
had been bitten. He set out shortly afterwards, 
in company with two white men, on his return to 
the settlements. In the course of a few days he 
showed symptoms of hydrophobia, and became 
raving towards night. At length, breaking away 
from his companions, he rushed into a thicket 
of willows, where they left him to his fate ! 




CHAPTER XXL 

Schemes of Captain Bonneville. — The Great Salt Lake. — 
Expedition to explore it. — Preparations for a journey to 
the Bighorn. 




APTAIN BONNEVILLE now found 
himself at the head of a hardy, well- 
seasoned, and well-appointed company 
of trappers, all benefited by at least one year's 
experience among the mountains, and capable of 
protecting themselves from Indian wiles and 
stratagems, and of providing for their subsistence 
wherever game was to be found. He had, also, 
an excellent troop of horses, in prime condition, 
and fit for hard service. He determined, there- 
fore, to strike out into some of the bolder parts 
of his scheme. One of these was to carry his 
expeditions into some of the unknown tracts of 
the Far West, beyond what is generally termed 
the buffalo range. This would have something 
of the merit and charm of discovery, so dear to 
every brave and adventurous spirit. Another 
favorite project was to establish a trading post on 
the lower part of the Columbia River, near the 
Multnomah Valley, and to endeavor to retrieve 
for his country some of the lost trade of Astoria. 
The first of the above mentioned views was, 
at present, uppermost in his mind — the explor- 



GREAT SALT LAKE. 221 

ing of unknown regions. Among the grand fea- 
tures of the wilderness about which he was roam- 
ing, one had made a vivid impression on his 
mind, and been clothed by his imagination with 
vague and ideal charms. This is a great lake of 
salt water, laving the feet of the mountains, but 
extending far to the west-southwest, into one of 
those vast and elevated plateaus of land, which 
rano^e hio^h above the level of the Pacific. 

Captain Bonneville gives a striking account 
of the lake when seen from the land. As you 
ascend the mountains about its shores, says he, 
you behold this immense body of water spreading 
itself before you, and stretching further and fur- 
ther, in one wide and far-reaching expanse, until 
the eye, wearied with continued and strained 
attention, rests in the blue dimness of distance, 
uj^on lofty ranges of mountains, confidently as- 
serted to rise from the bosom of the waters. 
Nearer to you, the smooth and unruflied surface 
is studded with little islands, where the mountain 
sheep roam in considerable numbers. What ex- 
tent of lowland may be encompassed by the high 
peaks beyond, must remain for the present matter 
of mere conjecture ; though from the form of the 
summits, and the breaks which may be discovered 
among them, there can be little doubt that they 
are the sources of streams calculated to water 
large tracts, which are probably concealed from 
view by the rotundity of the lake's surface. At 
some future day, in all probability, the rich har- 
vest of beaver fur, which may be reasonably 
anticipated in such a spot, will tempt adventurers 



222 BOyNE VILLUS ADVENTURES. 

to reduce all this doubtful region to the palpable 
certainty of a beaten track. At present, how- 
ever, destitute of the means of making boats, the 
trapper stands upon the shore, and gazes upon 
a promised land which his feet are never to tread. 

Such is the somewhat fanciful view which 
Captain Bonneville gives of this great body of 
water. He has evidently taken part of his ideas 
concerning it from the representations of others, 
who have somewhat exaggerated its features. It 
is reported to be about one hundred and fifty 
miles long, and fifty miles broad. The ranges of 
mountain peaks which Captain Bonneville speaks 
of, as rising from its bosom, are probably the 
summits of mountains beyond it, which may be 
visible at a vast distance, when viewed from an 
eminence, in the transparent atmosphere of these 
lofty regions. Several large islands certainly 
exist in the lake ; one of which is said to be 
mountainous, but not by any means to the extent 
required to furnish the series of peaks above 
mentioned. 

Captain Sublette, in one of his early expe- 
ditions across the mountains, is said to have sent 
four men in a skin canoe, to explore the lake, 
who professed to have navigated all round it ; 
but to have suffered excessively from thirst, the 
water of the lake being extremely salt, and there 
being no fresh streams running into it. 

Captain Bonneville doubts this report, or that 
the men accomplished the' circumnavigation, be- 
cause, he says, the lake receives several large 
streams from the mountains which bound it to 



ELEVATION OF GREAT SALT LAKE. 223 

the east. In the spring, when the streams are 
swollen by rain and by the melting of the snows, 
the lake rises several feet above its ordinary level ; 
during the summer, it gradually subsides again, 
leaving a sparkling zone of the finest salt upon 
its shores. 

The elevation of the vast plateau on which this 
lake is situated, is estimated by Captain Bonne- 
ville at one and three fourths of a mile above the 
level of the ocean. The admirable purity and 
transparency of the atmosphere in this region, 
allowing objects to be seen, and the report of 
fire arms to be heard, at an astonishing distance ; 
and its extreme dryness, causing the wheels of 
wagons to fall in pieces, as instanced in former 
passages of tliis work, are proofs of the great 
altitude of the Rocky Mountain plains. That 
a body of salt water should exist at such a height, 
is cited as a singular phenomenon by Captain 
Bonneville, though the salt lake of Mexico is not 
much inferior in elevation. ^ 

To have this lake properly explored, and all 
its secrets revealed, was the grand scheme of the 
captain for the present year ; and while it was 
one m which his imagination evidently took a 
leading part, he believed it would be attended 
with great profit, from the numerous beaver 
streams with which the lake must be fringed. 

1 The lake of Tezcuco, which surrounds the city of Mex- 
ico, the larf^est and lowest of the five lakes on the Mexican 
plateau, and one of the most impregnated with saline par- 
ticles, is seven thousand four hundred and sixty-eight feet, or 
nearly oue mile and a half above the level of the sea. 



224 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

This momentous undertaking he confided to his 
lieutenant, Mr. Walker, in whose experience and 
abihty he had great confidence. He instructed 
him to keep along the shores of the lake, and trap 
in all the streams on his route ; also to keep a 
journal, and minutely to record the events of his 
journey, and everything curious or interesting, 
making maps or charts of his route, and of the 
surrounding country. 

No pains nor expense were spared in fitting 
out the party of forty men, which he was to 
command. They had complete supplies for a 
year, and were to meet Captain Bonneville in the 
ensuing summer, in the valley of Bear River, the 
largest tributary of the Salt Lake, which was to 
be his point of general rendezvous. 

The next care of Captain Bonneville, was to 
arrange for the safe transportation of the peltries 
which he had collected, to the Atlantic States. 
Mr. Robert Campbell, the partner of Sublette, 
was at this time in the rendezvous of the Rocky 
Mountain Fur Company, having brought up their 
supplies. He was about to set off on his return, 
with the peltries collected during the year, and 
intended to proceed through the Crow country, 
to the head of navigation on the Bighorn River, 
and to descend in boats down that river, the Mis- 
souri, and the Yellowstone, to St. Louis. 

Captain Bonneville determined to forward his 
peltries by the same route, under the especial care 
of Mr. Cerre. By way of escort, he would ac- 
company Cerrd to the point of embarkation, and 
then make an autumnal hunt in the Crow country. 



i 



CHAPTER XXII. 

The Crow country. — A Crow paradise. — Habits of the 
Crows. — Anecdotes of Rose, the renegade white man — his 
fights with the Blackfeet — his elevation — his death. — 
Arapooish, the Crow chief — his eagle. — Adventure of 
Robert Campbell. — Honor among Crows. 




EFORE we accompany Captain Bonne- 
ville into the Crow country, we will im- 
part a few facts about this wild re- 
gion, and the wild people who inhabit it. "We 
are not aware of the precise boundaries, if there 
are any, of the country claimed by the Crows ; 
it appears to extend from the Black Hills 
to the Rocky Mountains, including a part of 
their lofty ranges, and embracing many of the 
plains and valleys watered by the Wind River, 
the Yellowstone, the Powder River, the Little 
Missouri, and the Nebraska. The country va- 
ries in soil and climate ; there are vast plains 
of sand and clay, studded with large red sand- 
hills ; other parts are mountainous and pictur- 
esque ; it possesses warm springs, and coal mines, 
and abounds with game. 

But let us give the account of the country as 
rendered by Arapooish, a Crow chief, to Mr. 
Robert Campbell, of the Rocky Mountain Fur 
Company. 

15 



226 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

" The Crow country," said he, " is a good 
country. The Great Spirit has put it exactly in 
the right phice ; while you are in it you fare 
well ; whenever you go out of it, whichever way 
you travel, you fare worse. 

" If you go to the south, you have to wander 
over great barren plains ; the vv^ater is warm and 
bad, and you meet the fever and ague. 

" To the north it is cold ; the winters are long 
and bitter, with no grass ; you cannot keep horses 
there, but must travel with dogs. What is a 
country without horses ? 

"On the Columbia they are poor and dirty, 
paddle about in canoes, and eat fish. Their teeth 
are worn out ; they are always taking fish-bones 
out of their mouths. Fish is poor food. 

" To the east, they dwell in villages ; they 
live well ; but they drink the muddy water of 
the Missouri — that is bad. A Crow's dog 
would not drink such water. 

" About the forks of tlie Missouri is a fine 
country ; good water ; good grass ; plenty of 
buffalo. In summer, it is almost as good as 
the Crow country ; but in winter it is cold ; the 
grass is gone ; and there is no salt weed for the 
horses. 

" The Crow country is exactly in the right 
place. It has snowy mountains and sunny 
plains ; all kinds of climates and good things for 
every season. When tlie summer heats scorch 
the prairies, you can draw up under the moun- 
tains, where the air is sweet and cool, the grass 
fresh, and the bright streams come tumbling out 



ROSE, THE OUTLAW. 227 

of the snow-banks. There you can hunt the 
elk, the deer, and the antelope, when their skins 
are fit for dressing ; there you will find plenty of 
white bears and mountain sheep. 

" In the autumn, when your horses are fat and 
strong from the mountain pastures, you can go 
down into the plains and hunt the buffalo, or trap 
beaver on the streams. And when winter comes 
on, you can take shelter in the woody bottoms 
along the rivers ; there you will find buffalo 
meat for yourselves, and cotton-wood bark for your 
horses : or you may winter in the Wind River 
Valley, where there is saltweed in abundance. 

" The Crow country is exactly in the right 
place. Everything good is to be found there. 
There is no country like the Crow country." 

Such is the eulogium on his country by Ara- 
pooisli. 

We have had repeated occasions to speak of 
the restless and predatory habits of the Crows. 
They can muster fifteen hundred fighting men ; 
but their incessant wars with the Blackfeet, and 
their vagabond, predatory habits, are gradually 
wearing them out. 

In a recent work, we related the circumstance 
of a white man named Rose, an outlaw, and a 
designing vagabond, who acted as guide and in- 
terpreter to Mr. Hunt and his party, on their 
journey across the mountains to Astoria, who 
came near betraying them into the hands of the 
Crows, and who remained among the tribe, mar- 
rying one of their women, and adopting their 
congenial habits.^ A few anecdotes of the sub- 
1 See Astoria. 



228 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

sequent fortunes of that renegade may not be 
uninteresting, especially as they are connected 
with the fortunes of the tribe. 

Rose was powerful in frame and fearless in 
spirit ; and soon by his daring deeds took his 
rank among the first braves of the tribe. He 
aspired to command, and knew it was only to be 
attained by desperate exploits. He distinguished 
himself in repeated actions with the Blackfeet. 
On one occasion, a band of those savages had 
fortified themselves within a breastwork, and 
could not be harmed. Rose proposed to storm 
the work. " Who will take the lead ? " was the 
demand. " I ! " cried he' ; and putting himself at 
their head, rushed forward. The first Blackfoot 
that opposed him he shot down with his rifle, and, 
snatching up the war-club of his victim, killed 
four others within the fort. The victory was 
complete, and Rose returned to the Crow village 
covered with glory, and bearing five Blackfoot 
scalps, to be erected as a trophy before his lodge. 
From this time, he was known among the Crows 
by the name of Che-ku-kaats, or " the man who 
killed five." He became chief of the village, or 
rather band, and for a time was the popular idol. 
His popularity soon awakened envy among the 
native braves ; he was a stranger, an intruder, a 
white man. A party seceded from his command. 
Feuds and civil wars succeeded that lasted for 
two or three years, until Rose, having contrived 
to set his adopted brethren by the ears, left them, 
and went down the Missouri in 1823. Here lie 
fell in with one of the earliest trapping expedi- 



CONFERENCE WITH THE CROWS. 220 

tions sent by General Ashley across the moun- 
tains. It was conducted by Smith, Fitzpatrick, 
and Sublette. Rose enlisted with them as guide 
and interpreter. When he got them among the 
Crows, he was exceedingly generous with their 
goods ; making presents to the braves of his 
adopted tribe, as became a high-minded chief. 

This, doubtless, helped to revive his popularity. 
In that expedition. Smith and Fitzpatrick were 
robbed of their horses in Green River Valley ; 
the place where the robbery took place still bears 
the name of Horse Creek. We are not informed 
whether the horses were stolen through the in- 
stigation and management of Rose ; it is not im- 
probable, for such was the perfidy he had in- 
tended to practice on a former occasion towards 
Mr. Hunt and his party. 

The last anecdote we have of Rose is from an 
Indian trader. When General Atkinson made 
his military expedition up the Missouri, in 1825, 
to protect the fur trade, he held a conference 
with the Crow nation, at which Rose figured as 
Indian dignitary and Crow interpreter. The 
military were stationed at some little distance 
from the scene of the " big talk ; " while the gen- 
eral and the chiefs were smoking pipes and mak- 
ing speeches, the officers, supposing all was 
friendly, left the troops, and drew near the scene 
of ceremonial. Some of the more knowing Crows, 
perceiving this, stole quietly to the camp, and, 
unobserved, contrived to stop the touch-holes of 
the field-pieces with dirt. Shortly after, a mis- 
understandincr occurred in the conference : some 



230 B ONNE VTLL ES AD VEN T URES. 

of the Indians, knowing the cannon to be useless, 
became insolent. A tumult arose. In the con- 
fusion. Colonel O'Fallen snapped a pistol in the 
face of a brave, and knocked him down with the 
butt end. The Crows were all in a fury. A 
chance-medley fight was on the point of taking 
place, when Rose, his natural sympathies as a 
white man suddenly recurring, broke the stock 
of his fusee over the head of a Crow warrior, 
and laid so vigorously about him with the barrel, 
that he soon put the whole throng to flight. 
Luckily, as no lives had been lost, this sturdy 
ribroasting calmed the fury of the Crows, and 
the tumult ended without serious consequences. 

What was the ultimate fate of this vagabond 
hero is not distinctly known. Some report him 
to have fallen a victim to disease, brought on by 
his licentious life ; others assert that he was mur- 
dered in a feud among the Crows. After all, his 
residence among these savages, and the influence 
he acquired over them, had, for a time, some ben- 
eficial effects. He is said, not merely to have 
rendered them more formidable to the Blackfeet, 
but to have opened their eyes to the policy of 
cultivating the friendship of the white men. 

After Rose's death, his policy continued to be 
cultivated, with indifferent success, by Arapooish, 
the cliief already mentioned, who had been his 
great friend, and whose character he had contrib- 
uted to develop. This sagacious chief endeav- 
ored, on every occasion, to restrain tlie predatory 
propensities of his tribe when directed against 
the white men. " If we keep friends with them," 



CAMPBELL BURIES FURS. 231 

said he, " we have nothing to fear from the Black- 
feet, and can rule the mountains." Arapooish 
pretended to be a great " medicine man ; " a char- 
acter among the Indians which is a compound of 
priest, doctor, prophet, and conjuror. He carried 
about with him a tame eagle, as his " medicine " 
or familiar. With the white men, he acknowl- 
edged that this was all charlatanism : but said it 
was necessary, to give him weight and influence 
among his people. 

Mr. Robert Campbell, from whom we have 
most of these facts, in the course of one of his 
trapping expeditions, was quartered in the village 
of Arapooish, and a guest in the lodge of the 
chieftain. He had collected a large quantity of 
furs, and, fearful of being plundered, deposited 
but a part in the lodge of the chief; the rest he 
buried in a cache. One night, Arapooish came 
into the lodge with a cloudy brow, and seated 
himself for a time without saying a word. At 
length, turning to Campbell, "You have more 
furs with you," said he, " than you have brought 
into my lodge ? " 

" I have," replied Campbell. 
« Where are they ? " 

Campbell knew the uselessness of any prevar- 
ication with an Indian ; and the importance of 
complete frankness. He described the exact place 
where he had concealed his peltries. 

" ' Tis well," replied Arapooish ; « you speak 
straight. It is just as you say. But your cache 
has been robbed. Go and see how many skins 
have been taken from it." 



232 B ONNE VILLIP S ADVENT URES 

Campbell examined the cache, and estimated 
his loss to be about one hundred and fifty beaver 
skins. 

Arapooish now summoned a meeting of the 
village. He bitterly reproached his people for 
robbing a stranger who had confided to their 
honor ; and commanded that whoever had taken 
the skins, should bring them back ; declaring 
that, as Campbell was his guest and inmate of 
his lodge, he would not eat nor drink until every 
skin was restored to him. 

The meeting broke up, and every one dis- 
persed. Arapooish now charged Campbell to 
give neither reward nor thanks to any one who 
should bring in the beaver skins, but to keep 
count as they were delivered. 

In a little while, the skins began to make their 
appearance, a few at a time ; they were laid 
down in the lodge, and those who brought them 
departed without saying a word. The day passed 
away. Arapooish sat in one corner of his lodge, 
wrapped up in his robe, scarcely moving a mus- 
cle of his countenance. When night arrived, he 
demanded if all the skins had been brought in. 
Above a hundred had been given up, and Camp- 
bell expressed himself contented. Not so the 
Crow chieftain. He fasted all that night, nor 
tasted a drop of water. In the morning, some 
more skins were brought in, and continued to 
come, one and two at a time, throughout the day ; 
until but a few were wanting to make the num- 
ber complete. Campbell was now anxious to put 
an end to this fasting of the old chief, and again 



HONESTY OF ARAPOOISH. 233 

declared that he was perfectly satisfied. Arapooish 
demanded what number of skins were yet want- 
ing. On being told, he whispered to some of his 
people, who disappeared. After a time the num- 
ber were brought in, though it was evident they 
were not any of the skins that had been stolen, 
but others gleaned in the village. 

" Is all right now ? " demanded Arapooish. 
" All is right," replied Campbell. 
" Good ! Now bring me meat and drink ! " 
When they were alone together, Arapooish 
had a conversation with his guest. 

" When you come another time among the 
Crows," said he, " don't hide your goods : trust 
to them and they will not wrong you. Put your 
goods in the lodge of a chief, and they are sa- 
cred ; hide them in a cache, and any one who 
finds will steal them. My people have now given 
up your goods for my sake ; but there are some 
foolish young men in the village, who may be 
disposed to be troublesome. Don't linger, there- 
fore, but pack your horses and be oflr*." 

Campbell took iiis advice, and made his way 
safely out of the Crow country. He has ever 
since maintained, that the Crows are not so black 
as they are painted. "Trust to their honor," 
says he, " and you are safe : trust to tlieir hon- 
esty, and they will steal the hair oflf of your 
head." 

Having given these few preliminary particu- 
lars, we will resume the course of our narrative. 



L 



CHAPTER XXm. 

Departure from Green River Valley. — Popo Agie — its course 

— the rivers into which it runs. — Scenery of the Bluffs. — 
The great Tar Spring. — Volcanic tracts in the Crow coun- 
try. — Burning mountain of Powder River. — Sulphur 
springs. — Hidden fires. — Colter's Hell. — Wind River. — 
Campbell's party. — Fitzpatrick and his trappers. — Cap- 
tain Stewart, an amateur traveller. — Nathaniel Wyeth 

— anecdotes of his expedition to the Far West. — Disaster 
of Campbell's party. — A union of bands. — The Bad Pass. 

— The rapids. — Departure of Fitzpatrick. — Embarkation 
of peltries. — AVyeth and his bull boat. — Adventures of 
Captain Bonneville in the Bighorn Mountains. — Adven- 
tures in the plain. — Traces of Indians. — Travelling pre- 
cautions. — Dangers of making a smoke. — The rendez- 
vous. 



^^^N the 25th of July, Captain Bonneville 
I ^C struck his tents, and set out on his route 
y^^i4 for the Bighorn, at the head of a party 
of fifty-six men, including those who were to 
embark with Cerre. Crossing the Green River 
Valley, he proceeded along the south point of the 
Wind River range of mountains, and soon fell 
upon the track of Mr. Robert Campbell's party, 
which had preceded him by a day. This he 
pursued, until he perceived that it led down the 
banks of the Sweet Water to the southeast. 
As this was different from his proposed direction, 



POPO AG IE. 235 

he left it ; and turning to the northeast, soon 
came upon the waters of the Popo Agie. This 
stream takes its rise in the Wind River Moun- 
tains. Its name, like most Indian names, is 
characteristic. Popo, in the Crow language, 
signifying head ; and Agie, river. It is the head 
of a long river, extending from the south end of 
the Wind River Mountains in a northeast direc- 
tion, until it falls into the Yellowstone. Its 
course is generally through plains, but is twice 
crossed by chams of mountains ; the first called 
the Littlehorn, the second, the Bighorn. After 
it has forced its way through the first chain, it 
is called the Horn River ; after the second 
chain, it is called the Bighorn River. Its passage 
throuijh this last chain is roui^h and violent ; 
making repeated falls, and rushing down long 
and furious rapids, which threatened destruction 
to the navigator ; though a hardy trapper is said 
to have shot down them in a canoe. At the 
foot of these rapids, is the head of navigation ; 
where it was the intention of the parties to con- 
struct boats, and embark. 

Proceeding down along the Popo Agie, Cap- 
tain Bonneville came again in full view of the 
" Bluffs," as they are called, extending from the 
base of the Wind River Mountains far away to 
the east, and presenting to the eye a confusion 
of hills and cliiFs of red sandstone, some peaked 
and angular, some round, some broken into crags 
and precipices, and piled up in fontastic masses ; 
but all naked and sterile. There appeared to be 
no soil fovorable to vesfetation, nothinjT but coarse 



236 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

gravel ; yet, over all this isolated, barren land- 
scape, were diffused such atmospherical tints and 
hues, as to blend the whole into harmony and 
beauty. 

In this neighborhood, the caj^tain made search 
for the " Great Tar Spring," one of the wonders 
of the mountains ; the medicinal j^roj^erties of 
which, he had heard extravagantly lauded by the 
trappers. After a toilsome search, he found it 
at the foot of a sand-bluff, a little to the east of 
the Wind River Mountains ; where it exuded in 
a small stream of the color and consistency of 
tar. The men immediately hastened to collect 
a quantity of it to use as an ointment for the 
galled backs of their horses, and as a balsam for 
their own pains and aches. From the descrip- 
tion given of it, it is evidently the bituminous oil, 
called petroleum or naphtha, which forms a prin- 
cipal ingredient in the potent medicine called 
British Oil. It is found in various parts of 
Europe and Asia, in several of the West India 
islands, and in some places of the United States. 
In the State of New York, it is called Seneca 
Oil, from being found near the Seneca Lake. 

The Crow country has other natural curiosi- 
ties, which are held in superstitious awe by the 
Indians, and considered great marvels by the 
trappers. Such is the burning mountain, on 
Powder River, abounding with anthracite coal. 
Here the earth is hot and cracked ; in many 
places emitting smoke and suljihurous vapors, as 
if covering concealed fires. A volcanic tract of 
similar character is found on Stinking River, one 



MEETING WITH CAMPBELL. 237 

of the tributaries of the Bighorn, which takes 
its unhappy name from the odor derived from 
sulphurous springs and streams. This last men- 
tioned place was first discovered by Colter, a 
hunter belonging to Lewis and Clarke's explor- 
ing party, who came upon it in the course of his 
lonely wandermgs, and gave such an account of 
its gloomy terrors, its hidden fires, smokmg pits, 
noxious streams, and the all-pervading " smell 
of brimstone," that it received, and has ever since 
retained among trappers, the name of " Colter's 
Hell ! " 

Resuminsj his descent alonsj the left bank of 
the Popo Agie Captain Bonneville soon reached 
the plains ; where he found several large streams 
entering from the west. Among these was Wind 
River, which gives its name to tlie mountains 
among which it takes its rise. This is one of 
the most important streams of the Crow country. 
The river being much swollen. Captain Bonne- 
ville halted at its mouth, and sent out scouts to 
look for a fording place. Wliile thus encamped, 
he beheld in the course of the afternoon, a long 
line of horsemen descending the slope of the hills 
on the opposite side of the Popo Agie. His 
first idea was, that they were Lidians ; he soon 
discovered, however, that they were white men, 
and, by the long line of pack-horses, ascertained 
them to be the convoy of Campbell, which, hav- 
ing descended the Sweet "Water, was now on its 
way to the Horn River. 

The two parties came together two or three 
days afterwards, on the 4th of August, after 



238 BONNEVILLE S ADVENTURES. 

having passed through the gap of the Littlehorn 
Mountam. In comjiany with Campbell's con- 
voy, was a trapping party of the Rocky Moun- 
tain Company, headed by Fitzpatrick ; who, 
after Campbell's embarkation on the Bighorn, 
was to take charge of all the horses, and pro- 
ceed on a trapping campaign. There were, 
moreover, two chance companions in the rival 
camp. One was Captam Stewart, of the British 
army, a gentleman of noble connections, who 
was amusing himself by a wandering tour in the 
Far West ; in the course of which, he had lived 
in hunter's style ; accompanying various bands 
of traders, trappers, and Indians ; and manifest- 
mg that relish for the wilderness that belongs to 
men of game spirit. 

The other casual inmate of Mr. Campbell's 
camp was Mr. Nathaniel Wyeth ; the self-same 
leader of the band of New England salmon fish- 
ers, with whom we parted company in the valley 
of Pierre's Hole, after the battle with the Black- 
feet. A few days after that affair, he again set 
out from the rendezvous in company with Milton 
Sublette and his brigade of trappers. On his 
march, he visited the battle ground, and pene- 
trated to the deserted fort of the Blackfeet in 
the midst of the wood. It was a dismal scene. 
The fort was strewed with the mouldering bodies 
of the slain ; while vultures soared aloft, or sat 
brooding on the trees around ; and Lidian dogs 
howled about the place, as if bewailing the death 
of their masters. Wyeth travelled for a consid- 
able distance to the southwest, in company with 



MR. WYETH AND HIS BAND. 239 

Milton Sublette, when they separated ; and the 
former, with eleven men, the remnant of his 
band, pushed on for Snake River ; kept down the 
course of that eventful stream ; traversed the 
Blue Mountains, trapping beaver occasionally by 
the way, and finally, after hardships of all kinds, 
arrived, on the 29 th of October, at Vancouver, 
on the Columbia, the main factory of the Hud- 
son's Bay Company. 

He experienced hospitable treatment at the 
hands of the agents of that company ; but his 
men, heartily tired of wandering in the wilder- 
ness, or tempted by other prospects, refused, for 
the most part, to continue any longer in his 
service. Some set off for the Sandwich Islands ; 
some entered into other employ. Wyeth found, 
too, that a great part of the goods he had 
brought with him were unfitted for the Indian 
trade ; in a word, his expedition, undertaken 
entirely on his own resources, proved a failure. 
He lost everythmg invested in it, but his hopes. 
These were as strong as ever. He took note of 
everything, therefore, that could be of service to 
him in the further prosecution of his project ; col- 
lected all the information within his reach, and 
then set off, accompanied by merely two men, 
on his return journey across the continent. 
He had got thus far " by hook and by crook, 
a mode in which a New England man can make 
his way all over the world, and through all kinds 
of difficulties, and was now bound for Boston ; 
in full confidence of being able to form a com- 
pany for the salmon fishery and fur trade of the 
Columbia. 



240 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

The party of Mr. Campbell had met with a 
disaster in the course of their route from the 
Sweet Water. Three or four of the men, who 
were reconnoitring the country in the advance 
of the main body, were visited one night in their 
camp, by fifteen or twenty Shoshouies. Consid- 
ering this tribe as perfectly friendly, they received 
them in the most cordial and confiding manner. 
In the course of the night, the man on guard 
near the horses fell sound asleep ; upon wliich a 
Shoshonie shot him in the head, and nearly killed 
him. The savages then made off with the horses, 
leaving the rest of the party to find their way to 
the main body on foot. 

The rival companies of Captain Bonneville and 
Mr. Campbell, thus fortuitously brought together, 
now prosecuted their journey in great good fel- 
lowship ; forming a joint camp of about a hun- 
dred men. The captain, however, began to 
entertain doubts that Fitzpatrick and his trap- 
pers, who kept profound silence as to their future 
movements, intended to hunt the same grounds 
which he had selected for his autumnal campaign ; 
which lay to the west of the Horn River, on its 
tributary streams. In the course of his march, 
therefore, he secretly detached a small party of 
trappers, to make their way to those hunting 
grounds, while he continued on with the main 
body ; appointing a rendezvous, at the next full 
moon, about the 28tli of August, at a place called 
the Medicine Lodge. 

On reaching the second chain, called the Big- 
horn Mountains, where the river forced its im- 



EMBARKING ON THE BIGHORN. 241 

petuous way through a precipitous defile, with 
cascades and rapids, the travellers were obliged 
to leave its banks, and traverse the mountains 
by a rugged and frightful route, emphatically 
called the " Bad Pass." Descending the oppo- 
site side, they again made for the river banks ; 
and about the middle of August, reached the 
point below the rapids, where the river becomes 
navigable for boats. Here Captain Bonneville 
detached a second party of trappers, consisting 
of ten men, to seek and join those whom he had 
detached while on the route, appointing for them 
the same rendezvous, (at the Medicine Lodge,) on 
the 28 th of August. 

All hands now set to work to construct " bull 
boats," as they are technically called ; a light, 
fragile kind of bark, characteristic of the expe- 
dients and inventions of the wilderness ; being 
formed of buffiilo skins, stretched on fi'ames. 
They are sometimes, also, called skin boats. 
Wyeth Avas the first ready ; and, with his usual 
promptness and hardihood, launched his frail 
bark, singly, on this wild and hazardous voyage, 
down an almost interminable succession of rivers, 
winding through countries teeming with savage 
hordes. Milton Sublette, his former fellow tra- 
veller, and his companion in the battle scenes of 
Pierre's Hole, took passage in his boat. His 
crew consisted of two white men, and two Indi- 
ans. We shall hear further of Wyeth, and his 
wild voyage, in the course of our wanderings 
about the Far West. 

The remaining parties soon completed their 
16 



242 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

several armaments. That of Captain Bonne- 
ville was composed of three bull boats, in which 
he embarked all his peltries, giving them in 
charge of Mr. Cerre, with a party of thirty-six 
men. Mr. Campbell took command of his own 
boats, and the little squadrons were soon gliding 
down the bright current of the Bighorn. 

The secret precautions which Captain Bonne- 
ville had taken, to throw his men first into the 
trapping ground west of the Bighorn, were, prob- 
ably, superfluous. It did not appear that Fitz- 
patrick had intended to hunt in that direction. 
The moment Mr. Campbell and his men em- 
barked with the peltries, Fitzpatrick took charge 
of all the horses, amounting to above a hundred, 
and struck off to the east, to trap upon Little- 
horn, Powder, and Tongue rivers. He was ac- 
companied by Captain Stewart, who was desirous 
of having a range about the Crow country. Of 
the adventures they met with in that region of 
vagabonds and horse stealers, we shall have some- 
thing to relate hereafter. 

Captain Bonneville being now left to prosecute 
his trapping campaign without rivalry, set out, 
on the 17th of August, for the rendezvous at 
Medicine Lodge. He had but four men remain- 
ing with him, and forty-six horses to take care 
of; with these he had to make his way over 
mountain and plain, through a marauding, horse- 
stealing region, full of peril for a numerous cav- 
alcade so slightly manned. He addressed himself 
to his difficult journey, however, with his usual 
alacrity of spirit. 



TRACES OF INDIANS. 243 

In the afternoon of his first clay's journey, on 
drawina: near to the Biijhorn Mountain, on the 
summit of which he intended to encamp for the 
night, he observed, to his disquiet, a cloud of 
smoke rising from its base. He came to a halt, 
and watched it anxiously. It was very irregu- 
lar ; sometimes it would almost die away ; and 
then would mount up in heavy volumes. There 
was, apparently, a large party encamped there ; 
probably, some ruffian horde of Blackfeet. At 
any rate, it would not do for so small a number 
of men, with so numerous a cavalcade, to venture 
within sight of any wandering tribe. Captain 
Bonneville and his companions, therefore, avoided 
this dangerous neighborhood, and, proceeding 
with extreme caution, reached the summit of the 
mountain, apparently without being discovered. 
Here they found a deserted Blackfoot fort, in 
which they ensconced themselves ; disposed of 
everything as securely as possible, and passed 
the night without molestation. Early the next 
morning they descended the south side of the 
mountain into the great plain extending between 
it and the Littlehorn range. Here they soon 
came upon numerous footprints, and the carcasses 
of buffaloes ; by which they knew there must be 
Indians not far off. Captain Bonneville now 
began to feel solicitude about the two small par- 
ties of trapi)ers which he had detached ; lest the 
Indians should have come upon them before they 
had united their forces. But he felt still more 
solicitude about his own party ; for it was hardly 
to be expected he could traverse these naked 



244 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

plains undiscovered, when Indians were abroad ; 
and should he be discovered, his chance would 
be a desperate one. Everything now depended 
upon the greatest circumspection. It was danger- 
ous to discharge a gun, or light a fire, or make 
the least noise, where such quick-eared and 
quick-sighted enemies were at hand. In the 
course of the day they saw indubitable signs 
that the buffalo had been roaming there in great 
numbers, and had recently been frightened away. 
That night they encamped with the greatest care ; 
and threw up a strong breastwork for their pro- 
tection. 

For the two succeeding days they pressed for- 
ward rapidly, but cautiously, across the great 
plain ; fording the tributary streams of the Horn 
River ; encamping one night among thickets ; 
the next, on an island ; meeting, repeatedly, with 
traces of Indians ; and now and then, in passing 
through a defile, experiencing alarms that induced 
them to cock their rifles. 

On the last day of their march hunger got the 
better of their caution, and they shot a fine buf- 
falo bull at the risk of being betrayed by the re- 
port. They did not halt to make a meal, but 
carried the meat on with them to the place of 
rendezvous, the Medicine Lodge, where they ar- 
rived safely, in the evening, and celebrated their 
arrival by a hearty supper. 

The next morning they erected a strong pen 
for the horses, and a fortress of logs for them- 
selves ; and continued to observe the greatest 
caution. Their cooking was all done at midday 



MEETING AT THE RENDEZVOVS. 245 

when the fire makes no glare, and a moderate 
smoke cannot be perceived at any great distance. 
In the morning and the evening, when the wind 
is lulled, the smoke rises perpendicularly in a 
blue column, or floats in light clouds above the 
tree-tops, and can be discovered from afar. 

In this way the little party remained for 
several days, cautiously encamped, until, on the 
29th of August, the two detachments they had 
been expecting, arrived together at the rendez- 
vous. They, as usual, had their several tales of 
adventures to relate to the captain, which we will 
furnish to the reader in the next chapter. 




CHAPTER XXIV. 

Aaventures of the part}' of ten. — The Balaamite mule. — A 
dead point. — The mysterious elks. — A night attack. — 
•A retreat. — Travelling under an alarm. — A joyful meet- 
ing. — Adventures of the other party. — A decoy elk. — Re- 
treat to an island. — A savage dance of triumph. — Arrival 
at Wind River. 




HE adventures of the detachment of ten 
are the first in order. These trappers, 
when they separated from Captain Bon- 
neville at the place where the furs were em- 
barked, proceeded to the foot of the Bighorn 
Mountain, and having encamped, one of them 
mounted his mule and went out to set his trap in 
a neighboring stream. He had not proceeded far 
when his steed came to a full stop. The trapper 
kicked and cudgelled, but to every blow and kick 
the mule snorted and kicked up, but still refused 
to budge an inch. The rider now cast his eyes 
warily around in search of some cause for this de- 
mur, when, to his dismay, he discovered an Indian 
fort within gunshot distance, lowering through 
the twilight. In a twinkling he wheeled about ; 
his mule now seemed as eager to get on as him- 
self, and in a few moments brought him, clatter- 
ing with his traps, among his comrades. He was 
jeered at for liis alacrity in retreating ; his report 



MYSTERIOUS ELKS. 247 

was treated as a false alarm ; his brother trappers 
contented themselves with reconnoitring the fort 
at a distance, and pronounced that it was deserted. 
As night set in, the usual precaution, enjoined by- 
Captain Bonneville on his men, was observed. 
The horses were brought in and tied, and a 
guard stationed over them. This done, the men 
wrapped themselves in their blankets, stretched 
themselves before the fire, and being fatigued 
with a long day's march, and gorged with a 
hearty supper, were soon in a profound sleep. 

The camp fires gradually died away ; all was 
dark and silent ; the sentinel stationed to watch 
the horses had marched as far, and supped as 
heartily as any of his companions, and while they 
snored, he began to nod at his post. After a 
time, a low trampling noise reached his ear. He 
half opened his closing eyes, and beheld two or 
three elks moving about the lodges, picking, and 
smelling, and grazing here and there. The sight 
of elk witiiin the purlieus of the camp caused 
some little surprise ; but, having had his supper, 
he cared not for elk meat, and, suffering them to 
graze about unmolested, soon relapsed into a doze. 

Suddenly, before daybreak, a discharge of fire- 
arms, and a struggle and tramp of horses, made 
every one start to his feet. The first move was 
to secure the horses. Some were gone ; others 
were struggling, and kicking, and trembling, for 
there was a horrible uproar of whoops, and yells, 
and fire-arms. Several trappers stole quietly from 
the camp, and succeeded in driving in the horses 
which had broken away ; the rest were tethered 



248 B OXNE VILLE' S AD VEN T UR ES. 

Still more strongly. A breastwork was thrown 
up of saddles, baggage, and camp furniture, and 
all hands waited anxiously for daylight. The 
Indians, in the meantime, collected on a neighbor- 
ing height, kept up the most horrible clamor, in 
hopes of striking a panic into tlie camp, or fright- 
ening off the horses. When the day dawned, 
the trappers attacked them briskly and drove 
them to some distance. A desultory firing was 
kept up for an hour, when the Indians, seeing 
nothing was to be gained, gave up the contest 
and retired. They proved to be a war party of 
Blackfeet, who, while in search of the Crow tribe, 
had fallen upon the trail of Captain Bonneville 
on the Popo Agie, and dogged him to the Big- 
horn ; but had been completely baffled by his 
vigilance. They had then waylaid the present 
detachment, and were actually housed in perfect 
silence within their fort, when the mule of the 
trapper made such a dead point. 

The savages went off uttering the wildest de- 
nunciations of hostility, mingled with opprobrious 
terms in broken English, and gesticulations of 
the most insulting kind. 

In this melee, one white man was wounded, 
and two horses were killed. On preparing the 
morning's meal, however, a number of cups, 
knives, and other articles were missing, which 
had, doubtless, been carried off by the fictitious 
elk, during the slumber of the very sagacious 
sentinel. 

As the Indians had gone off in the direction 
which the trappers had intended to travel, the 



MEETING WITH COMRADES. 249 

latter changed their route, and pushed forward 
rapidly through the '' Bad Pass,*' iior hahed until 
night ; when, supposing themselves out of the 
reach of the enemy, they contented themselves 
with tying up their horses and posting a guard. 
They had scarce laid down to sleep, when a dog 
strayed into the camp with a small pack of moc- 
casins tied upon his back ; for dogs are made to 
carry burdens among the Indians. The sentinel, 
more knowing than he of the preceding night, 
awoke his companions and reported the circum- 
stance. It was evident that Indians were at 
hand. All were instantly at work ; a strong pen 
was soon constructed for the horses, after com- 
pleting which, they resumed their slumbers with 
the composure of men long inured to dangers. 

In the next night, the prowling of dogs about 
the camp, and various suspicious noises, showed 
that Indians were still hovering about them. 
Hurrying on by long marches, they at length fell 
upon a trail, which, with the experienced eye of 
a veteran woodman, they soon discovered to be 
that of the party of trappers detached by Cap- 
tain Bonneville when on his march, and which 
they were sent to join. They likewise ascer- 
tained from various signs, that this party had 
suffered some maltreatment from the Indians. 
They now pursued the trail with intense anxiety ; 
it carried them to the banks of the stream called 
the Gray Bull, and down along its course, until 
they came to where it empties into the Horn 
River. Here, to their great joy, they discovered 
the comrades of whom they were in search, all 



250 B ONNE VILLE' S AD VEN T URES. 

Strongly fortified, and in a state of great watch- 
fulness and anxiety. 

We now take up the adventures of this first 
detachment of trappers. These men, after part- 
ing with the main body under Captain Bonne- 
ville, had proceeded slowly for several days up 
the course of the river, trapping beaver as they 
went. One morning, as they were about to visit 
their traps, one of the camp-keepers pointed to 
a fine elk, grazing at a distance, and requested 
them to shoot it. Three of the trappers started 
off for the purpose. In passing a thicket, they 
were fired upon by some savages in ambush, 
and at the same time, the pretended elk, throw- 
ing off" his hide and his horn, started forth an In- 
dian warrior. 

One of the three trappers had been brought 
down by the volley ; the others fled to the camp, 
and all hands, seizing up whatever they could 
carry otf, retreated to a small island in the river, 
and took refuge among the willows. Here they 
were soon joined by their comrade who had 
fallen, but who had merely been wounded in the 
neck. 

In the meantime, the Indians took possession 
of the deserted camp, with all the traps, accoutre- 
ments, and horses. While they were busy among 
the spoils, a solitary trapper, who had been ab- 
sent at his work, came sauntering to the camp 
with his traps on his back. He had ap- 
proached near by, when an Indian came forward 
and motioned him to keep away ; at the same 
moment, he was perceived by his comrades on the 



AN INSULTING WAR DANCE. 251 

island, and warned of his danger with loud nries. 
The poor fellow stood for a moment, bewildered 
and aghast, then dropping his traps, wheeled and 
made off at full speed, quickened by a sportive 
volley which tlie Indians rattled after him. 

In high good humor with their easy triumph, 
the savages now formed a circle round the fire 
and performed a war dance, with the unlucky 
trappers for rueful spectators. This done, em- 
boldened by what they considered cowardice on 
the part of the white men, they neglected their 
usual mode of bush-fighting, and advanced openly 
within twenty paces of the willows. A sharp 
volley from the trappers brought them to a sud- 
den halt, and laid three of them breathless. 
The chief, who had stationed himself on an emi- 
nence to direct all the movements of his people, 
seeing three of his warriors laid low, ordered the 
rest to retire. They immediately did so, and 
the whole band soon disappeared behind a point 
of woods, carrying off with them the horses, 
traps, and the greater part of the baggage. 

It was just after this misfortune, that the 
party of ten men discovered this forlorn band of 
trappers in a fortress, which they had thrown up 
after their disaster. They were so perfectly dis- 
mayed, that they could not be induced even to 
go in quest of their traps, which they had set in 
a neighboring stream. The two parties now 
joined their forces, and made their way, without 
further misfortune, to the rendezvous. 

Captain Bonneville perceived from the reports 
of these parties, as well as from what he had ob- 



252 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

served himself in his recent march, that he was 
in a neighborhood teeming with danger. Two 
wandering Snake Indians, also, who visited the 
camp, assured him that there were two large 
bands of Crows marching rapidly upon him. 
He broke up his encampment, therefore, on the 
1st of September, made his way to the south, 
across the Littlehorn Mountain, until he reached 
Wind River, and then turning westward, moved 
slowly up the banks of that stream, giving time 
for his men to trap as he proceeded. As it was 
not in the plan of the present hunting campaign 
to go near the caches on Green River, and as the 
trappers were in want of traps to replace those 
they had lost. Captain Bonneville undertook to 
visit the caches, and procure a supply. To ac- 
company him in this hazardous expedition, which 
would take him through the defiles of the Wind 
River Mountains, and up the Green River Val- 
ley, he took but three men ; the main party 
were to continue on trapping up towards the 
head of Wind River, near which he was to re- 
join them, just about the place where that stream 
issues from the mountains. We shall accompany 
the captain on his adventurous errand. 




CHAPTER XXV. 

Captain Bonneville sets out for Green River Valley. — Jour- 
ney up the Pope Agio. — BufFaloes. — The staring white 
bears. — The smoke. — The warm springs. — Attempt to 
traverse the Wind River Mountains. — The Great Slope. 
Mountain dells and chasms. — Crystal lakes. — Ascent of 
a snowy peak. — Sublime prospect. — A panorama. — " Les 
dignes de pitie," or wild men of the mountains. 

iAVING forded Wind River a little above 
its mouth, Captain Bonneville and his 
three companions proceeded across a 
gravelly plain, until they fell upon the Popo Agie, 
up the left bank of which they held their course, 
nearly in a southerly direction. Here they came 
upon numerous droves of buffalo, and halted for 
the purpose of procuring a supply of beef. As 
the hunters were stealing cautiously to get w^ithin 
shot of the game, two small white bears suddenly 
presented themselves in their path, and, rising 
upon their hind legs, contemplated them for some 
time, with a whimsically solemn gaze. The hunt- 
ers remained motionless ; whereupon the bears, 
having apparently satisfied their curiosity, lowered 
themselves upon all fours, and began to withdraw. 
The hunters now advanced, upon which the bears 
turned, rose again upon their haunches, and re- 
peated their serio-comic examination. This was 



254: BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

repeated several times, until the hunters, piqued 
at their unmannerly staring, rebuked it with a 
discharge of their rifles. The bears made an 
awkward bound or two, as if wounded, and then 
walked off with great gravity, seeming to com- 
mune together, and every now and then turning 
to take another look at the hunters. It was well 
for the latter that the bears were but half grown, 
and had not yet acquired the ferocity of their 
kind. 

The buffalo were somewhat startled at the re- 
port of the fire-arms ; but the hunters succeeded 
in killing a couple of fine cows, and, having se- 
cured the best of the meat, continued forward 
until some time after dark, when, encamping in 
a large thicket of willows, they made a great fire, 
roasted buffalo beef enough for half a score, dis- 
posed of the whole of it with keen relish and 
high glee, and then " turned in " for the night and 
slept soundly, like weary and well fed hunters. 

At daylight they were in the saddle again, and 
skirted along the river, passing througli fresh 
grassy meadows, and a succession of beautiful 
groves of willows and cotton-wood. Towards 
evening. Captain Bonneville observed a smoke at 
a distance rising from among hills, directly in the 
route he was pursuing. Apprehensive of some 
hostile band, he concealed the horses in a thicket, 
and, accofnpanied by one of his tnen, crawled cau- 
tiously up a height, from which he could overlook 
the scene of danger. Here, with a spy-glass, he 
reconnoitred the surrounding country, but not a 
lodge nor fire, not a man, horse, nor dog, was to 



WIND RIVER MOUNTAINS. 255 

be discovered ; in short, the smoke which had 
caused such alarm . proved to be the vapor from 
several warm, or rather hot springs of consider- 
able magnitude, pouring forth streams in every 
direction over a bottom of white clay. One of 
the springs was about twenty-fiv^e yards in diam- 
eter, aad so deep, that the water was of a bright 
green color. 

They were now advancing diagonally upon the 
chain of Wind River Mountains, which lay be- 
tween them and Green River Valley. To coast 
round their southern points would be a wide cir- 
cuit ; whereas, could they force their way through 
them, they might proceed in a straight line. 
The mountains were lofty, with snowy peaks and 
cragged sides ; it was hoped, however, that some 
practicable defile might be found. They at- 
tempted, accordingly, to penetrate the mountains 
by following up one of the branches of the Popo 
Agie, but soon found themselves in the midst of 
stupendous crags and precipices, that barred all 
progress. Retracing their steps, and falling back 
upon the river, they consulted where to make 
another attempt. They were too close beneath 
the mountains to scan them generally, but they 
now recollected having noticed, from the plain, a 
beautiful slope, rising, at an angle of about thirty 
degrees, and apparently without any break, until 
it reached the snowy region. ' Seeking this gen- 
tle acclivity, they began to ascend it with alac- 
rity, trusting to find at the top one of those ele- 
vated plains which prevail among the Rocky 
Mountains. The slope was covered with coarse 



256 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

gravel, interspersed with plates of freestone. 
They attained the summit with some toil, but 
found, instead of a level, or rather undulating 
plain, that they were on the brink of a deep and 
precipitous ravine, from the bottom of which 
rose a second slope, similar to the one they had 
just ascended. Down into this profound ravine 
they made their way by a rugged path, or rather 
fissure of the rocks, and then labored up the sec- 
ond slope. They gained the summit only to find 
themselves on another ravine, and now perceived 
that this vast mountain, which had presented 
such a sloping and even side to the distant be- 
holder on the plain, was shagged by frightful 
precipices, and seamed with longitudinal chasms, 
deep and dangerous. 

In one of these wild dells they passed the 
night, and slept soundly and sweetly after their 
fatigues. Two days more of arduous climbing 
and scrambling only served to admit them into 
the heart of this mountainous and awful solitude ; 
where difficulties increased as they proceeded. 
Sometimes they scrambled from rock to rock, up 
the bed of some mountain stream, dashing its 
bright way down to the plains ; sometimes they 
availed themselves of the paths made by the deer 
and the mountain sheep, which, however, often 
took them to the brink of fearful precipices, or 
led to rugged defiles, impassable for their horses. 
At one place, they were obliged to slide their 
horses down the face of a rock, in which attempt 
some of the poor animals lost their footing, rolled 
to the bottom, and came near being dashed to 
pieces. 



ASCENT OF A SNOWY PEAK. 257 

In the afternoon of the second day, the travel- 
lers attained one of the elevated valleys locked 
up in this singular bed of mountains. Here 
were two bright and beautiful little lakes, set like 
mirrors in the midst of stern and rocky heights, 
and surrounded by grassy meadows, inexpressibly 
refreshing to the eye. These probably were 
among the sources of those mighty streams which 
take their rise among these mountains, and wan- 
der hundreds of miles through the plains. 

In the green pastures bordering upon these 
lakes, the travellers halted to repose, and to give 
their weary horses time to crop the sweet and 
tender herbage. They had now ascended to a 
great height above the level of the plains, yet 
they beheld huge crags of granite piled one upon 
another, and beetling like battlements far above 
them. While two of the men remained in the 
camp with the horses. Captain Bonneville, accom- 
panied by the other men, set out to climb a 
neighboring height, hoping to gain a commanding 
prospect, and discern some practicable route 
through this stupendous labyrinth. After much 
toil, he reached the summit of a lofty cliff, but it 
was only to behold gigantic peaks rising all 
around, and towering far into the snowy regions 
of the atmosphere. Selecting one which ap- 
peared to be the highest, he crossed a narrow in- 
tervening valley, and began to scale it. He soon 
found that he had undertaken a tremendous task ; 
but the pride of man is never more obstinate 
than when climbing mountains. The ascent was 
so steep and rugged that he and his companions 
17 



258 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

were frequently obliged to clamber on hands and 
knees, with their guns slung upon their backs. 
Frequently, exhausted with fatigue, and dripping 
with perspiration, they threw themselves upon 
the snow, and took handfuls of it to allay their 
parching thirst. At one place, they even stripped 
off their coats and hung them upon the bushes, 
and thus lightly clad, proceeded to scramble over 
these eternal snows. As they ascended still 
higher, there were cool breezes that refreshed and 
braced them, and springing with new ardor to 
their task, they at length attained the summit. 

Here a scene burst upon the view of Captain 
Bonneville, that for a time astonished and over- 
whelmed him with its immensity. He stood, in 
fact, upon that dividing ridge which Indians re- 
gard as the crest of the world; and on each side 
of which, the landscape may be said to decline to 
the two cardinal oceans of the globe. Which- 
ever way he turned his eye, it was confounded 
by the vastness and variety of objects. Beneath 
him, the Rocky Mountains seemed to open all 
their secret recesses : deep, solemn valleys ; 
treasured lakes ; dreary passes ; rugged defiles, 
and foaming torrents ; while beyond their savage 
precincts, the eye was lost in an almost immeas- 
urable landscape ; stretching on every side into 
dim and hazy distance, like the expanse of a 
summer's sea. Whichever way he looked, he 
beheld vast plains glimmering with reflected sun- 
shine ; mighty streams wandering on their shin- 
ing course toward either ocean, and snowy moun- 
tains, chain beyond chain, and peak beyond peak, 



SUBLIME PROSPECT. 259 

till they melted like clouds into the horizon. 
For a time, the Indian fable seemed realized : 
he had attained that height from which the 
Blackfoot warrior after death, first catches a view 
of the land of souls, and beholds the happy hunt- 
ing grounds spread out below him, brightening 
with the abodes of the free and generous spirits. 
The captain stood for a long while gazing upon 
this scene, lost in a crowd of vague and indefi- 
nite ideas and sensations. A long-drawn inspir- 
ation at length relieved him from this enthrall- 
ment of the mind, and he began to analyze the 
parts of this vast panorama. A simple enumer- 
ation of a few of its features, may give some 
idea of its collective grandeur and magnificence. 
The peak on which the captain had taken his 
stand, commanded the whole Wind River chain ; 
which, in fact, may rather be considered one im- 
mense mountain, broken into snowy peaks and 
lateral spurs, and seamed with narrow valleys. 
Some of these valleys glittered with silver lakes 
and gushing streams ; the fountain heads, as it 
were, of the mighty tributaries to the Atlantic 
and Pacific Oceans. Beyond the snowy peaks, 
to the south, and far, far below the mountain 
range, the gentle river, called the Sweet Water, 
was seen pursuing its tranquil way through the 
rugged regions of the Black Hills. In the east, 
the head waters of Wind River wandered 
through a plain, until, mingling in one powerful 
current, they forced their way through the range 
of Horn Mountains, and were lost to view. To 
the north, were caught glimpses of the upper 



260 B ONNE VILLE' S AD VENTURES. 

Streams of the Yellowstone, that great tributary 
of the Missouri. In another direction were to 
be seen some of the sources of the Oregon, or 
Columbia flowing to the northwest, past those 
towering landmarks the three Tetons, and pour- 
ing down into the great lava plain ; while, al- 
most at the captain's feet, the Green River, or 
Colorado of the West, set forth on its wandering 
pilgrimage to the Gulf of California ; at first a 
mere mountain torrent, dashing northward over 
crag and precipice, in a succession of cascades, 
and tumbling into the plain, where, expanding 
into an ample river, it circled away to the south, 
and after alternately shining out and disappear- 
ing in the mazes of the vast landscape, was fi- 
nally lost in a horizon of mountains. The day 
was calm and cloudless, and the atmosphere so 
pure that objects were discernable at an astonish- 
ing distance. The whole of this immense area 
was inclosed by an outer range of shadowy 
peaks, some of them faintly marked on the hori- 
zon, which seemed to wall it in from the rest of 
the earth. ' 

It is to be regretted that Captain Bonneville 
had no instruments with him with which to as- 
certain the altitude of this peak. He gives it as 
his opinion, that it is the loftiest point of the 
North American continent ; but of this we have 
no satisfactory proof. It is certain that the 
Rocky Mountains are of an altitude vastly supe- 
rior to what was formerly supposed. We rather 
incline to the opinion that the highest peak is 
further to the northward, and is the same meas- 



HERMIT INDIANS. 261 

ured by Mr. Thompson, surveyor to the North- 
west Company; who, by the joint means of the 
barometer and trigonometric measurement, ascer- 
tained it to be twenty-five thousand feet above 
the level of the sea ; an elevation only inferior 
to that of the Himalayas.^ 

For a long time, Captain Bonneville remained 
gazing around him with wonder and enthusiasm ; 
at length the ' chill and wintry winds, whirling 
about the snow-clad height, admonished him to 
descend. He soon regained the spot where he 
and his companions had thrown off their coats, 
which were now gladly resumed, and, retracing 
their course down the peak, they safely rejoined 
their companions on the border of the lake. 

Notwithstanding the savage and almost inac- 
cessible nature of these mountains, they have 
their inhabitants. As one of the party was out 
hunting, he came upon the solitary track of a 
man, in a lonely valley. Following it up, he 
reached the brow of a cliff, whence he beheld 
three savages running across the valley below 
him. He fired his gun to call their attention, 
hoping to induce them to turn back. They only 
fled the faster, and disappeared among the rocks. 
The hunter returned and reported what he had 
seen. Captain Bonneville at once concluded that 
these belonged to a kind of hermit race, scanty 
in number, that inhabit the highest and most in- 
accessible fastnesses. They speak the Shoshonie 
language, and probably are offsets from that tribe, 

1 See the letter of Professor Renwick, in the Appendix to 
Astoria. 



262 B ONNE villi: S AD VENTURES. 

though they have peculiarities of their own, 
which distinguish them from all other Indians. 
They are miserably poor; own no horses, and 
are destitute of every convenience to be derived 
from an intercourse with the whites. Their 
weapons are bows and stone-pointed arrows, with 
which they hunt the deer, the elk, and the moun- 
tain sheep. They are to be found scattered about 
the countries of the Shoshonie, Flathead, Crow, 
and Blaekfeet tribes; but their residences are al- 
ways in lonely places, and the clefts of the rocks. 

Their footsteps are often seen by the trappers 
in the high and solitary valleys among the moun- 
tains, and the smokes of their fires descried among 
the precipices, but they themselves are rarely met 
with and still more rarely brought to a parley, so 
great is their shyness, and their dread of stran- 
gers. 

As their poverty offers no temptation to the ma- 
rauder, and as they are inoffensive in their habits, 
they are never the objects of warfare : should 
one of them, however, fall into the hands of a 
war party, he is sure to be made a sacrifice, for 
the sake of that savage trophy, a scalp, and that 
barbarous ceremony, a scalp dance. Those for- 
lorn beings, forming a mere link between human 
nature and the brute, have been looked down 
upon with pity and contempt by the Creole trap- 
pers, who have given them the appellation of 
" les dignes de pitie," or " the objects of pity." 
They appear more worthy to be called the wild 
men of the mountains. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

A retrograde move. — Channel of a mountain torrent- — Al- 
pine scenery. — Cascades. — Beaver valleys. — Beavers at 
work — their architecture — their modes of felling trees. — 
Mode of trapping beaver. — Contests of skill. — A beaver 
" up to trap." — Arrival at the Green River caches. 




HE view from the snowy peak of the 
Wind River Mountain, whUe it had ex- 
cited Captain Bonneville's enthusiasm, 
had satisfied him that it would be useless to force 
a passage westward, tlu'ough multiplying barriers 
of cliffs and precipices. Turning his face east- 
ward, therefore, he endeavored to regain the 
plains, intending to make the circuit round the 
southern point of the mountain. To descend, 
and to extricate himself from the heart of this 
rock-piled wilderness, was almost as difficult as to 
penetrate it. Taking his course down the ravine 
of a tumbling stream, the commencement of some 
future river, he descended from rock to rock, and 
shelf to shelf, between stupendous cliffs and bee- 
tUng crags, that sprang up to the sky. Often he 
had to cross and recross the rushing torrent, as it 



wound foaminof and 



down its broken 



channel, or was walled by perpendicular preci- 
pices ; and imminent was the hazard of breaking 
the leers of the horses in the clefts and fissures of 



264 B ONNE VILLES AD VENTURES. 

slippery rocks. The whole scenery of this deep 
ravine was of Alpine wildness and sublimity. 
Sometimes the travellers passed beneath cascades 
which pitched from such lofty heights, that the 
water fell into the stream like heavy rain. • In 
other places, torrents came tumbling from crag to 
crag, dashing into foam and spray, and making 
tremendous din and uproar. 

On the second day of their descent, the trav- 
ellers, having got beyond the steepest pitch of the 
mountains, came to where the deep and rugged 
ravine began occasionally to expand into small 
levels or valleys, and the stream to assume for 
short intervals a more peaceful character. Here, 
not merely the river itself, but every rivulet flow- 
ing into it, was dammed up by communities of 
industrious beavers, so as to inundate the neigh- 
borhood, and make continual swamps. 

During a midday halt in one of these beaver 
valleys. Captain Bonneville left his companions, 
and strolled down the course of the stream to rec- 
onnoitre. He had not proceeded far, when he 
came to a beaver pond, and caught a glimpse of 
one of its painstaking inhabitants busily at work 
upon the dam. The curiosity of the captain was 
aroused, to behold the mode of operating of this 
far-famed architect ; he moved forward, therefore, 
with the utmost caution, parting the branches of 
the water willows without making any noise, 
until having attained a position commanding a 
view of the whole pond, he stretched himself flat 
on the ground, and watched the solitary work- 
man. In a little while, three others appeared at 



BEAVERS AT WORK. 265 

the head of the dam, bringing sticks and bushes. 
With these they proceeded directly to the barrier, 
which Captain Bonneville perceived was in need 
of repair. Having deposited their loads upon the 
broken part, they dived into the water, and 
shortly reappeared at the surface. Each now 
brought a quantity of mud, with which he would 
plaster the sticks and bushes just deposited. This 
kind of masonry was continued for some time, re- 
peated supplies of wood and mud being brought, 
and treated in the same manner. This done, the 
industrious beavers indulged in a little recreation, 
chasing each other about the pond, dodging and 
whisking about on the surface, or diving to the 
bottom ; and in their frolic, often slapping their 
tails on the water with a loud clacking sound. 
While they were thus amusing themselves, an- 
other of the fraternity made his appearance, and 
looked gravely on their sports for some time, with- 
out offering to join in them. He then climbed 
the bank close to where the captain was con- 
cealed, and, rearing himself on his hind quarters, 
in a sitting position, put his fore paws against a 
young pine-tree, and began to cut the bark with 
his teeth. At times he would tear off a small 
piece, and holding it between his paws, and re- 
taining his sedentary position, would feed himself 
with it, after the fashion of a monkey. The ob- 
ject of the beaver, however, was evidently to cut 
down the tree ; and he was proceeding with his 
work, when he was alarmed by the ap2:>roach of 
Captain Bonneville's men, who, feeling anxious 
at the protracted absence of their leader, were 



266 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

coming in search of him. At the sound of their 
voices, all the beavers, busy as well as idle, dived 
at once beneath the surface, and were no more to 
be seen. Captain Bonneville regretted this in- 
terruption. He had heard much of the sagacity 
of the beaver in cuttmg down trees, in which, it 
is said, they manage to make them fall into the 
water, and in such a position and direction as 
may be most favorable for conveyance to the de- 
sired point. In the present instance, the tree 
was a tall straight pine, and as it grew perpendic- 
ularly, and there was not a breath of air stirring, 
the beaver could have felled it in any direction he 
pleased, if really capable of exercising a discretion 
in the matter. He was evidently engaged in 
" belting " the tree, and his first incision had 
been on the side nearest to the water. 

Captain Bonneville, however, discredits, on the 
whole, the alleged sagacity of the beaver in this 
particular, and thinks the animal has no other 
aim than to get the tree down, without any 
of the subtle calculation as to its mode or direc- 
tion of falling. This attribute, he thinks, has 
been ascribed to them from the circumstance, that 
most trees growing near water-courses, either 
lean bochly towards the stream, or stretch their 
largest limbs in that direction, to benefit by the 
space, the light, and the air to be found there. 
The beaver, of course, attacks those trees which 
are nearest at hand, and on the banks of the 
stream or pond. He makes incisions round 
them, or, in technical phrase, belts them with his 
teeth, and when they fall, they naturally take the 



SAGACITY OF TEE BEAVER. 267 

direction in which their trunks or branches pre- 
ponderate. 

" I have often," says Captain Bonneville, " seen 
trees measuring eighteen inches in diameter, at 
the places where they had been cut through by 
the beaver, but they lay in all directions, and 
often very inconveniently for the after purposes 
of the animal. In fact, so little ingenuity do they 
at times display in this particular, that at one of 
our camps on Snake River, a beaver was found 
with his head wedged into the cut which he had 
made, the tree having fallen upon him and held 
him prisoner until he died." 

Great choice, according to the captain, is cer- 
tainly displayed by the beaver in selecting the 
wood which is to furnish bark for winter pro- 
vision. The whole beaver household, old and 
young, set out upon this busmess, and will often 
make long journeys before they are suited. 
Sometimes they cut down trees of the largest 
size and then cull the branches, the bark of which 
is most to their taste. These they cut into 
lengths of about three feet, convey them to the 
water, and float them to their lodges, where they 
are stored away for winter. They are studious 
of cleanliness and comfort in their lodges, and 
after their repasts, will carry out the sticks from 
which they have eaten the bark, and throw them 
into the current beyond the barrier. They are 
jealous, too, of their territories, and extremely 
pugnacious, never permitting a strange beaver to 
enter their premises, and often fighting with such 
virulence as almost to tear each other to pieces. 



268 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

In the spring, which is the breeding season, the 
male leaves the female at home, and sets off on 
a tour of pleasure, rambling often to a great dis- 
tance, recreating himself in every clear and quiet 
expanse of water on his way, and climbing the 
banks occasionally to feast upon the tender 
sprouts of the young willows. As sunmaer ad- 
vances, he gives up his bachelor rambles, and 
bethinking himself of housekeeping duties, re- 
turns home to his mate and his new progeny, 
and marshals them all for the foraging expedition 
in quest of winter provisions. 

After havmg shown the public spirit of this 
praiseworthy little animal as a member of a com- 
munity, and his amiable and exemplary conduct 
as the father of a family, we grieve to record the 
perils with which he is environed, and the snares 
set for him and his painstaking household. 

Practice, says Captain Bonneville, has given 
such a quickness of eye to the experienced trap- 
per in all that relates to his pursuit, that he can 
detect the slightest sign of beaver, however wild ; 
and although the lodge may be concealed by 
close thickets and overhanging willows, he can 
generally, at a single glance, make an accurate 
guess at the number of its inmates. He now 
goes to work to set his trap ; planting it upon 
the shore, in some chosen place, two or three 
inches below the surface of the water, and se- 
cures it by a chain to a pole set deep in the mud. 
A small twig is then stripped of its bark, and one 
eiud is dipped in the "medicine," as the trappers 
term the peculiar bait which they employ. This 



MODE OF TRAPPING BEAVER. 269 

end of the stick rises about four inches above the 
surface of the water, the other end is planted be- 
tween the jaws of the trap. The beaver, pos- 
sessing an acute sense of smell, is soon attracted 
by the odor of the bait. As he raises his nose 
towards it, his foot is caught in the trap. In his 
fright he throws a somerset into the deep water. 
The trap, being fastened to the pole, resists all 
his efforts to drag it to the shore ; the chain by 
which it is fastened defies his teeth ; he struggles 
for a time, and at length sinks to the bottom and 
is drowned. 

Upon rocky bottoms, where it is not possible to 
plant the pole, it is thrown into the stream. The 
beaver, when entrapped, often gets fastened by 
the chain to sunken logs or floating timber ; if he 
gets to shore, he is entangled in the thickets of 
brook willows. In such cases, however, it costs 
the trapper diligent search, and sometimes a bout 
at swimmino^, before he finds his game. 

Occasionally it happens that several members 
of a beaver family are trapped in succession. 
The survivors then become extremely shy, and can 
scarcely be " brought to medicine," to use the trap- 
per's phrase for " taking the bait." In such case, 
the trapper gives up the use of the bait, and con- 
ceals his traps in the usual paths and crossing- 
places of the household. The beaver now being 
completely " up to trap," approaches them cau- 
tiously, and springs them ingeniously with a stick. 
At other times, he turns the traps bottom upwards, 
by the same means, and occasionally even drags 
them to the barrier and conceals them in the mud. 



270 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

The trapper now gives up the contest of ingenuity, 
and shouldering his traps, marches off, admitting 
that he is not yet " up to beaver." 

On the day following Captain Bonneville's su- 
pervision of the industrious and frolicsome com- 
munity of beavers, of which he has given so edify- 
ing an account, he succeeded in extricating himself 
from the Wind River Mountains, and regainmg 
the plain to the eastward, made a great bend to 
the south, so as to go round the bases of the 
mountains, and arrived without further incident 
of importance, at the old place of rendezvous in 
Green River Valley, on the 17th of September. 

He found the caches, in which he had deposited 

/ his superfluous goods and equipments, all safe, and 

\J having opened and taken from them the necessary 

supphes, he closed them again ; taking care to 

obliterate all traces that might betray them to the 

keen eyes of Indian marauders. 



'»»' 




CHAPTER XXVn. 

Route towards Wind River. — Dangerous neighborhood. — 
Alarms and precautions. — A sham encampment. — Ap- 
parition of an Indian spy. — Midnight move. — A mountain 
defile. — The Wind River Valley. — Tracking a party. — 
Deserted camps. — Symptoms of Crows. — Meeting of com- 
rades. — A trapper entrapped. — Crow pleasantry. — Crow 
spies. — A decampment. — Return to Green River Valley. — 
Meeting with Fitzpatrick's party — their adventures among 
the Crows. — Orthodox Crows. 

N the 18th of September, Captain Bon- 
neville and his three companions set out, 
bright and early, to rejoin the main party, 
from which they had parted on Wind River. 
Their route lay up the Green River Valley, with 
that stream on their right hand, and beyond it, 
the range of Wind River Mountains. At the 
head of the valley, they were to pass through a 
defile which would bring them out beyond the 
northern end of these mountains, to the head of 
Wind River ; where they expected to meet the 
main party, according to arrangement. 

We have already adverted to the dangerous 
nature of this neighborhood, infested by roving 
bands of Crows and Blackfeet ; to whom the nu- 
merous defiles and passes of the country afford 
capital places for ambush and surprise. The trav- 
ellers, therefore, kept a vigilant eye upon every- 
thing that might give intimation of lurking danger. 



272 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

About two hours after midday, as they reached 
the summit of a hill, they discovered buffalo on 
the plain below, running in every direction. One 
of the men, too, fancied he heard the report of a 
gun. It was concluded, therefore, that there was 
some party of Indians below, hunting the buffalo. 

The horses were immediately concealed in a 
narrow ravine ; and the captain, mounting an emi- 
nence, but concealing himself from view, reconnoi- 
tred the whole neighborhood with a telescope. 
Not an Indian was to be seen ; so, after halting 
about an hour, he resumed his journey. Con- 
vinced, however, that he was in a dangerous 
neighborhood, he advanced with the utmost cau- 
tion ; winding liis way through hollows and ravines, 
and avoiding, as much as possible, any open tract, 
or rising ground, that might betray his little party 
to the watchful eye of an Indian scout. 

Arriving, at length, at the edge of the open 
meadow-land bordering on the river, he again 
observed the buffalo, as far as he could see, scam- 
pering in great alarm. Once more conceahng the 
horses, he and his companions remained for a long 
time watching the various groups of the animals, 
as each caught the panic and started off; but they 
sought in vain to discover the cause. 

They were now about to enter the mountain 
defile, at the head of Green River Valley, where 
they might be waylaid and attacked ; they, there- 
fore, arranged the packs on their horses, in the 
manner most secure and convenient for sudden 
flight, should such be necessary. This done, they 
agaui set forward, keeping the most anxious look- 
out in every direction. 



A SHAM ENCAMPMENT. 273 

It was now drawing towards evening ; but they 
could not tliink of encamping for the night, in a 
place so full of danger. Captain Bonneville, there- 
fore, determined to halt about sunset, kindle a fire, 
as if for encampment, to cook and eat supper ; 
but, as soon as it was sufficiently dark, to make a 
rapid move for the summit of the mountain, and 
seek some secluded spot for their night's lodgings. 

Accordingly, as the sun went down, the little 
party came to a halt, made a large fire, spitted 
their buffalo meat on wooden sticks, and, Avhen 
sufficiently roasted, planted the savory viands 
before them ; cutting off huge slices with their 
hunting knives, and supping with a hunter's ap- 
petite. The light of their fire would not fail, as 
they knew, to attract the attention of any Indian 
horde in the neighborhood ; but they trusted to 
be off and away, before any prowlers could reach 
the place. Wliile they were supping thus hastily, 
however, one of their party suddenly started up, 
and shouted " Indians ! " All were instantly on 
their feet, with their rifles in their hands ; but 
could see no enemy. The man, however, de- 
clared that he had seen an Indian advancing, 
cautiously, along the trail which they had made in 
coming to the encampment ; who, the moment he 
was perceived, had thrown himself on the ground, 
and disappeared. He urged Captain Bonneville 
mstantly to decamp. The captain, however, took 
the matter more coolly. The single fact, that the 
Indian had endeavored to hide himself, convinced 
him that he was not one of a party, on the ad- 
vance to make an attack. He was, probably, 
18 



274 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

some scout, who had followed up their trail, until 
he came in sight of their fire. He would, in 
such case, return, and report what he had seen to 
his companions. These, supposing the white men 
had encamped for the night, would keep aloof 
until very late, when all should be asleep. They 
would, then, according to Indian tactics, make 
their stealthy approaches, and place themselves in 
ambush around, preparatory to their attack, at 
the usual hour of daylight. 

Such was Captain Bonneville's conclusion ; in 
consequence of which, he counselled his men to 
keep perfectly quiet, and act as if free from all 
alarm, until the proper time arrived for a move. 
They, accordingly, continued their repast with 
pretended appetite and jollity ; and then trimmed 
and replenished their fire, as if for a bivouac. 
As soon, however, as the night had completely 
set in, they left their fire blazing ; walked quietly 
among the willows, and then leaping into their 
saddles, made off" as noiselessly as possible. In 
proportion as they left the point of danger behind 
them, they relaxed in their rigid and anxious taci- 
turnity, and began to joke at the expense of their 
enemy ; whom they pictured to themselves mous- 
ing in the neighborhood of their deserted fire, 
waiting for the proper time of attack, and pre- 
paring for a grand disappointment. 

About midnight, feeling satisfied that they had 
gained a secure distance, they posted one of their 
number to keep watch, in case the enemy should 
follow on their trail, and then, turning abruptly 
into a dense and matted thicket of willows, halted 



GIVING THE INDIANS THE SLIP. 275 

for the night at the foot of the mountain, instead 
of making for the summit, as they had originally 
intended. 

A trapper in the wilderness, like a sailor on 
the ocean, snatches morsels of enjoyment in the 
midst of trouble, and sleeps soundly when sur- 
rounded by danger. The little party now made 
their arrangements for sleep with perfect calmness ; 
they did not venture to make a fire and cook, it 
is true, though generally done by hunters when- 
ever they come to a halt, and have provisions. 
They comforted themselves, however, by smoking 
a tranquil pipe ; and then calling in the watch, 
and turning loose the horses, stretched themselves 
on their pallets, agreed that whoever should first 
awake, should rouse the rest, and in a little while 
were all in as sound sleep as though in the midst 
of a fortress. 

A little before day, they were all on the alert ; 
it was the hour for Indian maraud. A sentinel 
was immediately detached, to post himself at a 
little distance on their trail, and give the alarm, 
should he see or hear an enemy. 

"VYith the first blink of dawn, the rest gbught 
the horses ; brought them to the camp, and tied 
them up, until an hour after sunrise ; when, the 
sentinel having reported that all was well, they 
sprang once more into their saddles, and pursued 
the most covert and secret paths up the mountain, 
avoiding the direct route. 

At noon, they halted and made a hasty repast ; 
and then bent their course so as to regain the 
route from which they had diverged. They were 



276 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

now made sensible of the danger from which they 
had just escaped. There were tracks of Indians 
who had evidently been in pursuit of them ; but 
had recently returned, baffled in their search. 

Trusting that they had now got a fair start, 
and could not be overtaken before night, even in 
case the Indians should renew the chase, they 
pushed briskly forward, and did not encamp until 
late ; when they cautiously concealed themselves 
in a secure nook of the mountains. 

Without any further alarm, they made their 
way to the head waters of Wind River, and 
reached the neighborhood in which they had 
appointed the rendezvous with their companions. 
It was within the precincts of the Crow country ; 
the Wind River Valley being one of the favorite 
haunts of that restless tribe. After much search- 
ing, Captain Bonne^dlle came uj^on a trail which 
had evidently been made by his main party. It 
was so old, however, that he feared his people 
might have left the neighborhood ; driven off, 
perhaps, by some of those war parties which 
were on the prowl. He continued his search 
with great anxiety, and no little fatigue ; for his 
horses were jaded, and almost crippled, by their 
forced marches and scramblings through rocky 
defiles. 

On the following day, about noon. Captain 
Bonneville came upon a deserted camp of his 
people, from which they had, evidently, turned 
back ; but he could find no signs to indicate why 
they had done so ; whether they had met with 
misfortune, or molestation, or in what direction 



ANXIETY OF THE CAPTAIN. 277 

they had gone. He was now, more than ever, 
perplexed. 

On the following day, he resumed his march 
with increasing anxiety. The feet of his horses 
had by this time become so worn and wounded by 
the rocks, that he had to make moccasins for 
them of buflfalo hide. About noon, he came to 
another deserted camp of his men ; but soon after 
lost their trail. After great search, he once more 
found it, turning in a southerly direction along 
the eastern bases of the Wind River Mountains, 
which towered to the right. He now pushed 
forward with all possible speed, in hopes of over- 
taking the party. At night, he slept at another 
of their camps, from which they had but recently 
departed. Wlien the day dawned sufficiently to 
distinguish objects, he perceived the danger that 
must be dogging the heels of his main party. 
All about the camp were traces of Indians, who 
must have been prowling about it at the time his 
people had passed the night there ; and who must 
still be hovering about them. Convinced, now, 
that the main party could not be at any great 
distance, he mounted a scout on the best horse, 
and sent him forward to overtake them, to warn 
them of their danger, and to order them to halt, 
until he should rejoin them. 

In the afternoon, to his great joy, he met the 
scout returning, with six comrades from the main 
party, leading fresh horses for his accommodation ; 
and on the following day (September 2oth), all 
hands were once more reunited, after a separa- 
tion of nearly three weeks. Their meeting was 



278 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

hearty and joyous ; for they had both ex- 
perienced dangers and perplexities. 

The main party, in pursuing their course up 
the Wind River Valley, had been dogged the whole 
way by a war party of Crows. In one place, 
they had been fired upon, but without injury ; in 
another place, one of their horses had been cut 
loose, and carried off. At length, they were so 
closely beset, that they were obliged to make a 
retrograde move, lest they should be surprised and 
overcome. This was the movement which had 
caused such perplexity to Captain Bonneville. 

The whole party now remained encamped for 
two or three days, to give repose to both men and 
horses. Some of the trappers, however, pursued 
their vocations about the neiohborinoj streams. 
While one of them was setting his traps, he 
heard the tramp of horses, and looking up, be- 
held a party of Crow braves moving along at no 
great distance, with a considerable cavalcade. 
The trapper hastened to conceal himself, but was 
discerned by the quick eye of the savages. With 
whoops and yells, they dragged him from his hid- 
ing-place, flourished over his head their toma- 
hawks and scalping-knives, and for a time, the 
poor trapper gave himself up for lost. Fortu- 
nately, the Crows were in a jocose, rather than a 
sanguinary mood. They amused themselves 
heartily, for a while, at the expense of his ter- 
rors ; and after having played off divers Crow 
pranks and pleasantries, suffered him to depart 
unharmed. It is true, they stripped him com- 
pletely, one taking his horse, another his gun, a 



THE TRAPPER ENTRAPPED. 279 

third his traps, a fourth his blanket, and so on, 
through all his accoutrements, and even his cloth- 
ing, until he was stark naked ; but then they gen- 
erously made him a present of an old tattered 
buffalo robe, and dismissed him, with many com- 
plimentary speeches, and much laughter. When 
the trapper returned to the camp, in such sorry 
plight, he was greeted with peals of laughter from 
his comrades, and seemed more mortified by the 
style in which he had been dismissed, than re- 
joiced at escaping with his life. A circumstance 
which he related to Captain Bonneville, gave 
some insight into the cause of this extreme jocu- 
larity on the part of the Crows. They had evi- 
dently had a run of luck, and, like winning 
gamblers, were in high good humor. Among 
twenty-six fine horses, and some mules, which 
composed their cavalcade, the trapper recognized 
a number which had belonged to Fitzpatrick's 
brigade, when they parted company on the Big- 
horn. It was supposed, therefore, that these 
vagabonds had been on his trail, and robbed him 
of part of his cavalry. 

On the day following this affair, three Crows 
came mto Captain Bonneville's camp, with the 
most easy, innocent, if not imjjudent air imagin- 
able ; walking about with that imperturbable 
coolness and unconcern, in wliich the Indian 
rivals the fine gentleman. As they had not been 
of the set which stripped the trapper, though 
evidently of the same band, they were not 
molested. Indeed, Captain Bonneville treated 
them with his usual kindness and hospitality ; 



280 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

permitting them to remain all day in tlie camp, 
and even to pass the night there. At the same 
time, however, he caused a strict watch to be 
maintained on all their movements ; and at night, 
stationed an armed sentinel near them. The 
Crows remonstrated against the latter being 
armed. This only made the captain suspect them 
to be spies, who meditated treachery ; he re- 
doubled, therefore, his precautions. At the same 
time, he assured his guests, that while they were 
perfectly welcome to the shelter and comfort of 
his camp, yet, should any of their tribe venture 
to approach during the night, they would 
certainly be shot ; which would be a very unfor- 
tunate circumstance, and much to be deplored. 
To the latter remark, they fully assented ; and 
shortly afterward commenced a wild song, or 
chant, which they kept up for a long time, and in 
which, they very probably gave their friends, 
who might be prowling around the camp, notice 
that the white men were on the alert. The 
night passed away without disturbance. In the 
morning, the three Crow guests were very press- 
ing that Captain Bonneville and his party should 
accompany them to their camp, which they said 
was close by. Instead of accepting their in- 
vitation, Captain Bonneville took his departure 
with all possible dispatch, eager to be out of the 
vicinity of such a piratical horde ; nor did he 
relax the diligence of his march, until, on the 
second day, he reached the banks of the Sweet 
Water, beyond the limits of the Crow country, 
and a heavy fall of snow had obliterated all 
traces of his course. 



TRAIL OF A PARTY OF CROWS. 281 

He now continued on for some few days, at a 
slower pace, round the point of the mountain 
towards Green River, and arrived once more at 
the caches, on the 14th of October. 

Here they found traces of the band of Indians 
who had hunted them in the defile towards the 
head waters of Wind River. Having lost all 
trace of them on their way over the mountains, 
they had turned and followed back their trail 
down Green River Valley to the caches. One of 
these they had discovered and broken open, but 
it fortunately contained nothing but fragments of 
old iron, wliich they had scattered about in all 
directions, and then departed. Li examining 
their deserted camp, Captain Bonneville dis- 
covered that it numbered tliirty-nine fires, and 
had more reason than ever to congratulate him- 
self on having escaped the clutches of such a for- 
midable band of freebooters. 

He now turned his course southward, under 
cover of the mountains, and on the 25th of 
October reached Liberge's Ford, a tributary of 
the Colorado, where he came suddenly upon the 
trail of this same war party, which had crossed 
the stream so recently, that the banks were yet 
wet with the water that had been splashed upon 
them. To judge from their tracks, they could 
not be less than three hundred warriors, and 
apparently of the Crow nation. 

Captain Bonneville was extremely uneasy lest 
this overpowering force should come upon him in 
some place where he would not have the means 
of fortifying himself promptly. He now moved 



282 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

towards Hane's Fork, another tributary of the 
Colorado, where he encamped, and remamed 
during the 26th of October. Seeing a large 
cloud of smoke to the south, he supposed it to 
arise from some encampment of Shoshonies, and 
sent scouts to procure information, and to 
purchase a lodge. It was, in fact, a band of 
Shoshonies, but with them were encamped Fitz- 
patrick and his party of trappers. That active 
leader had an eventful story to relate of his 
fortunes in the country of the Crows. After 
parting with Captain Bonneville on the banks of 
the Bighorn, he made for the west, to trap upon 
Powder and Tongue rivers. He had between 
twenty and thirty men with him, and about one 
hundred horses. So large a cavalcade could not 
pass through the Crow country without attracting 
the attention of its freebooting hordes. A large 
band of Crows were soon on their traces, and 
came up with them on the 5th of September, just 
as they had reached Tongue River. The Crow 
chief came forward with great appearance of 
friendship, and proposed to Fitzpatrick that they 
should encamp together. The latter, however, 
not having any faith in Crows, declined the in- 
vitation, and pitched his camp three miles off. 
He then rode over, with two or three men, to 
visit the Crow cliief, by whom he was received 
with great apparent cordiality. In the mean- 
time, however, a party of young braves, who 
considered them absolved by his distrust from all 
scruples of honor, made a circuit privately, and 
dashed into his encampment. Captain Stewart, 



FITZPATRICK AND THE CROWS. 283 

who had remamed there in the absence of Fitz- 
patrick, behaved with great spirit; but the 
Crows were too numerous and active. They had 
got possession of the camp, and soon made booty 
of everything — carrying off all the horses. On 
their way back they met Fitzpatrick returning to 
his camjj ; and finished their exploit by rifling 
and nearly stripping him. 

A negotiation now took place between the 
plundered white men and the triumphant Crows ; 
what eloquence and management Fitzpatrick 
made use of, we do not know, but he succeeded 
m prevailing upon the Crow chieftain to return 
him his horses and many of his traps ; together 
with his rifles and a few rounds of ammunition 
for each man. He then set out with all speed to 
abandon the Crow country, before he should meet 
with any fresh disasters. 

After his departure, the consciences of some 
of the most orthodox Crows pricked them sorely 
for having suffered such a cavalcade to escape 
oat of their hands. Anxious to wipe off so foul 
a stigma on the reputation of the Crow nation, 
they followed on his trail, nor quit hovering 
about him on his march until they had stolen a 
number of his best horses and mules. It was, 
doubtless, this same band which came upon the 
lonely trapper on the Popo Agie, and generously 
gave him an old buffalo robe in exchange for his 
rifle, liis traps, and all his accoutrements. With 
these anecdotes, we shall, for the present, take 
our leave of the Crow country and its vagabond 
cliivalry. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

A region of natural curiosities. — The plain of white clay. — 
Hot springs. — The Beer Spring. — Departure to seek the 
free trappers. — Plain of Portneuf. — Lava. — Chasms and 
gullies. — Banneck Indians — their hunt of the buffalo. — 
Hunters' feast. — Trencher heroes- — Bullying of an absent 
foe. — The damp comrade. — The Indian spy. — Meeting 
with Hodgkiss — his adventures. — Poordevil Indians. — 
Triumph of the Bannecks. — Blackfeet policy in war. 




ROSSING an elevated ridge, Captain 
Bonneville now came upon Bear River, 
which, from its source to its entrance 
into the Great Salt Lake, describes the figure of 
a horseshoe. One of the principal head waters 
of this river, although supposed to abound with 
beaver, has never been visited by the trapper ; 



[('■(red mountains, and being bar 



ricadoed by fallen pine-trees and tremendous prec- 
ipices. 

Proceeding down this river, the party en- 
camped, on the 6 th of November, at the outlet 
of a lake about thirty miles long, and from two 
to three miles in width, completely imbedded in 
low ranges of mountains, and connected with 
Bear River by an impassable swamp. It is called 
the Little Lake, to distinguish it from the great 
one of salt water. 

On the 10th of November, Captain Bonneville 



BEER SPRING. 285 

visited a place in the neighborhood which is quite 
a region of natural curiosities. An area of 
about half a mile square presents a level surface 
of wliite clay or fullers' earth, perfectly spotless, 
resembling a great slab of Parian marble, or a 
sheet of dazzling snow. The effect is strikingly 
beautiful at all times : in summer, when it is sur- 
rounded with verdure, or in autumn, when it 
contrasts its bright immaculate surface with the 
withered herbage. Seen from a distant emi- 
nence, it then sliines like a mirror, set in the 
brown landscape. Around tliis plain are clus- 
tered numerous sprmgs of various sizes and 
temperatures. One of them, of scaldmg heat, 
boils furiously and incessantly, rising to the 
height of two or three feet. In another place, 
there is an aperture in the earth, from which 
rushes a column of steam that forms a perpetual 
cloud. The ground for some distance around 
sounds hollow, and startles the solitary trapper, 
as he hears the tramp of his horse giving the 
sound of a muffled drum. He pictures to him- 
self a mysterious gulf below, a place of hidden 
fires, and gazes round him with awe and uneasi- 
ness. 

The most noted curiosity, however, of this 
singular region, is the Beer Spring, of which 
trappers give wonderful accounts. They are 
said to turn aside from their route through the 
country to drink of its waters, with as much 
eagerness as the Arab seeks some famous well 
of the desert. Captain Bonneville describes it 
as having the taste of beer. His men drank it 



286 BONNEVILLDS ADVENTURES. 

with avidity, and in copious draughts. It did 
not appear to him to possess any medicinal prop- 
erties, or to produce any peculiar effects. The 
Indians, however, refuse to taste it, and endeavor 
to persuade the white men from doing so. 

We have heard this also called the Soda Spring, 
and described as containing iron and sulphur. It 
l^robably possesses some of the properties of the 
Ballston water. 

The time had now arrived for Captain Bonne- 
ville to go in quest of the party of free trappers, 
detached m the beginning of July, under the com- 
mand of Mr. Hodgkiss, to trap upon the head 
waters of Salmon River. His intention was to 
miite them with the party with which he was at 
present travelling, that all might go into quarters 
together for the winter. Accordingly, on the 
11th of November, he took a temporary leave 
of liis band, appointing a rendezvous on Snake 
River, and, accompanied by three men, set out 
upon his journey. His route lay across the 
plain of the Portneuf, a tributary stream of 
Snake River, called after an unfortunate Cana- 
dian trapper, murdered by the Indians. The 
whole country through which he passed, bore 
evidence of volcanic convulsions and conflagra- 
tions in the olden time. Great masses of lava 
lay scattered about in every direction ; the crags 
and cliffs had apparently been under the action 
of fire ; the rocks in some places seemed to have 
been in a state of fusion ; the plain was rent and 
split with deep chasms and gullies, some of which 
were partly filled with lava. 



BANNECK INDIANS. 287 

They had not proceeded far, however, before 
they saw a party of horsemen, galloping full tilt 
towards them. They instantly turned, and made 
full speed for the covert of a woody stream, to 
fortify themselves among the trees. The Indians 
came to a halt, and one of them came forward 
alone. He reached Captain Bonneville and his 
men just as they were dismounting and about to 
post themselves. A few words dispelled all un- 
easiness. It was a party of twenty-five Banneck 
Lidians, friendly to the whites, and they proposed, 
through their envoy, that both parties should en- 
camp together, and hunt the buffalo, of which 
they had discovered several large herds hard by. 
Captain Bonne\alle cheerfully assented to their 
proposition, being curious to see their manner of 
hunting. 

Both parties accordingly encamped together on 
a convenient spot, and prepared for the hunt. 
The Indians first posted a boy on a small hill 
near the camp, to keep a lookout for enemies. 
The " runners," then, as they are called, mounted 
on fleet horses, and armed with bows and arrows, 
moved slowly and cautiously toward the buffalo, 
keeping as much as possible out of sight, in hol- 
lows and ravines. When within a proper dis- 
tance, a signal was given, and they all opened at 
once like a pack of hounds, with a full chorus of 
yells, dashing mto the middle of the herds, and 
launchino: their arrows to the riijht and left. The 
plain seemed absolutely to shake under the tramp 
of the buffiilo, as they scoured off. The cows in 
headlong panic, the bulls furious with rage, utter- 



288 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

ing deep roars, and occasionally turning with a 
desperate rush upon their pursuers. Nothing 
could surpass the spirit, grace, and dexterity, with 
which the Indians managed their horses ; wheel- 
ing and coursing among the affrighted herd, and 
launchinor their arrows with unerrino^ aim. In 
the midst of the apparent confusion, they selected 
their victims with perfect judgment, generally 
aiming at the fattest of the cows, the flesh of the 
bull being nearly worthless, at this season of the 
year. In a few minutes, each of the hunters had 
crippled three or four cows. A single shot was 
sufficient for the purpose, and the animal, once 
maimed, was left to be completely dispatched at 
the end of the chase. Frequently, a cow was 
killed on the spot by a single arrow. In one in- 
stance. Captain Bonneville saw an Indian shoot 
his arrow completely through the body of a cow, 
so that it struck in the ground beyond. The 
bulls, however, are not so easily killed as the 
cows, and always cost the hunter several ar- 
rows, sometimes making battle upon the horses, 
and chasing them furiously, though severely 
wounded, with the darts stUl sticking in their 
flesh. 

The grand scamper of the hunt being over, the 
Indians proceeded to dispatch the animals that 
had been disabled ; then cutting up the carcasses, 
they returned with loads of meat to the camp, 
where the choicest pieces were soon roasting be- 
fore large fires, and a hunters' feast succeeded ; 
at which Captain Bonneville and his men were 
qualified, by previous fasting, to perform their 
parts with great vigor. 



FIGnTlNG TEE WIND, 289 

Some men are said to wax valorous upon a 
full stomach, and such seemed to be the case with 
the Banneck braves, who, in proportion as they 
crammed themselves with buffalo meat, grew 
stout of heart, until, the supper at an end, they 
began to chant war songs, setting forth their 
mighty deeds, and the victories they had gained 
over the Blackfeet. Warming with the theme, 
and inflating themselves with their own eulogies, 
these magnanimous heroes of the trencher would 
start up, advance a short distance beyond the 
light of the fire, and apostrophize most vehe- 
mently their Blackfeet enemies, as though they 
had been within hearing. Ruffling, and swell- 
ing, and snorting, and slapping their breasts, and 
brandishing their arms, they would vociferate all 
their exploits ; reminding the Blackfeet how they 
had drenched their towns in tears and blood ; enu- 
merate the blows they had mflicted, the warriors 
they had slain, the scalps they had brought off in 
triumph. Then, having said everything that 
could stir a man's spleen or pique his valor, they 
would dare their imaginary hearers, now that the 
Bannecks were few in number, to come and take 
their revenge — receiving no reply to this valor- 
ous bravado, they would conclude by all kinds of 
sneers and insults, deriding the Blackfeet for das- 
tards and poltroons, that dared not accept their 
challenge. Such is the kind of swas^erinor and 
rodomontade in which the " red men " are prone 
to indulge in their vainglorious moments ; for, 
with all their vaunted taciturnity, they are vehe- 
mently prone at times to become eloquent about 
19 



290 B ONNE villi: s ad ventures. 

their exploits, and to sound their own trum- 
pet. 

Having vented their valor in this fierce effer- 
vescence, the Banneck braves gradually calmed 
down, lowered their crests, smoothed their ruffled 
feathers, and betook themselves to sleep, without 
placing a single guard over their camp ; so that, 
had the Blackfeet taken them at their word, but 
few of these braggart heroes might have survived 
for any further boasting. 

On the following morning. Captain Bonneville 
purchased a supply of buffalo meat from his brag- 
gadocio friends ; who, with all their vaporing, were 
in fact a very forlorn horde, destitute of fire-arms, 
and of almost everything that constitutes riches 
in savage life. The bargain concluded, the Ban- 
necks set off for their village, which was situated, 
they said, at the mouth of the Portneuf, and Cap- 
tain Bonneville and his companions shaped their 
course towards Snake River. 

Arrived on the banks of that river, he found 
it rapid and boisterous, but not too deep to be 
forded. In traversing it, however, one of the 
horses was swept suddenly from his footing, and 
his rider was flung from the saddle into the midst 
of the stream. Both horse and horseman were 
extricated without any damage, excepting that the 
latter was completely drenched, so that it was 
necessary to kindle a fire to dry him. While 
they were thus occupied, one of the party looking 
up, perceived an Indian scout cautiously recon- 
noitring them from the summit of a neighboring 
hill. The moment he found himself discovered, 



INDIAN SPY. 291 

he disappeared behind the hill. From his furtive 
movements, Captain Bonneville suspected him to 
be a scout from the Blackfeet camp, and that he 
had gone to report what he had seen to his com- 
panions. It would not do to loiter in such a 
neighborhood, so the kindling of the iii'e was 
abandoned, the drenched horseman mounted in 
dripping condition, and the little band pushed for- 
ward directly into the plain, going at a smart 
pace, until they had gained a considerable dis- 
tance from the place of supposed danger. Here 
encamping for the night, in the midst of abun- 
dance of sage, or wormwood, wLiuh afforded fod- 
der for their horses, they kindled a huge fire for 
the benefit of their damp comrade, and then pro- 
ceeded to prepare a sumptuous supper of buffalo 
humps and ribs, and other choice bits, which they 
had brought with them. After a hearty repast, 
relished with an appetite unknown to city epi- 
cures, they stretched themselves upon their 
couches of skins, and under the starry canopy of 
heaven enjoyed the sound and sweet sleep of 
hardy and well-fed mountaineers. 

They continued on their journey for several 
days, without any incident worthy of notice, 
and on the 19th of November came upon traces 
of the party of which they were in search ; such 
as burnt patches of prairie, and deserted camping 
grounds. All these were carefully examined, to 
discover by their freshness or antiquity the prob- 
able time that the trappers had left them; at 
length, after much wandering and mvestigating, 
they came upon the regular trail of the hunting 



292 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

party, which led into the mountains, and follow- 
ing it up briskly, came about two o'clock in the 
afternoon of the 20th, ujDon the encampment of 
Hodgkiss and his band of free trappers, in the 
bosom of a mountain valley. 

It will be recollected that these free trappers, 
who were masters of themselves and their move- 
ments, had refused to accompany Captain Bon- 
neville back to Green River in the jirecediug 
month of July, preferring to trap about the 
upper waters of the Salmon River, where they 
exj^ected to find plenty of beaver, and a less 
dangerous neighborhood. Their hunt had not 
been very successful. They had penetrated the 
great range of mountains among which some of 
the upper branches of Salmon River take their 
rise, but had become so entangled among im- 
mense and almost impassable barricades of fallen 
pines, and so impeded by tremendous precipices, 
that a great part of their season had been wasted 
among those mountains. At one time they had 
made their way through them, and reached the 
Bois^e River ; but meeting with a band of 
Banneck Indians, from whom they apprehended 
hostilities, they had again taken shelter among the 
mountains, where they were found by Captam 
Bonneville. In the neighborhood of their en- 
campment, the captain had the good fortune to 
meet with a family of those wanderers of the 
mountains, emphatically called " les dignes de 
pitie," or Poordevil Indians. These, however, 
appear to have forfeited the title, for they had 
with them a fine lot of skins of beaver, elk, deer, 



A BANNECK VICTORY. 293 

and mountain sheep. These, Captain Bonneville 
purchased from them at a fair valuation, and sent 
them off astonished at their own wealth, and no 
doubt objects of envy to all their pitiful tribe. 

Being now reinforced by Hodgkiss and his 
band of free trappers. Captain Bonneville put 
himself at the head of the united parties, and 
set out to rejoin those he had recently left at the 
Beer Spring, that they might all go into winter 
quarters on Snake River. On his route, he en- 
countered many heavy falls of snow, wliich 
melted almost immediately, so as not to impede 
his march, and on the 4th of December he found 
his other party, encamped at the very place where 
he had partaken in the buffalo hunt with the 
Bannecks. 

That braggart horde was encamped but about 
three miles off, and were just then in high glee 
and festivity, and more swaggering than ever, 
celebrating a prodigious victory. It appeared 
that a party of their braves being out on a hunt- 
ing excursion, discovered a band of Blackfeet 
moving, as they thought, to surprise their hunt- 
ing camp. The Bannecks immediately posted 
themselves on each side of a dark ravine, through 
which the enemy must pass, and just as they 
were entangled in the midst of it, attacked them 
with great fury. The Blackfeet, struck with 
sudden panic, threw off their buffalo robes and 
fled, leaving one of their warriors dead on the 
spot. The victors eagerly gathered up the 
spoils ; but their greatest prize was the scalp of 
the Blackfoot brave. This they bore off in tri- 



294 BONNEVILLPS ADVENTURES. 

umph to their village, where it had ever since 
been an object of the greatest exultation and 
rejoicing. It had been elevated upon a pole in 
the centre of the village, where the warriors had 
celebrated the scalp dance round it, with war 
feasts, war songs, and warlike harangues. It 
had then been given up to the women and boys ; 
who had paraded it up and down the village with 
shouts and chants and antic dances ; occasionally 
saluting it with all kinds of taunts, invectives, 
and revilings. 

The Blackfeet, in this affair, do not appear to 
have acted up to the character which has ren- 
dered them objects of such terror. Indeed, their 
conduct in war, to the inexperienced observer, is 
full of inconsistencies ; at one time they are 
headlong in courage, and heedless of danger ; at 
another time cautious almost to cowardice. To 
understand these apparent incongruities, one 
must know their pi'inciples of warfare. A war 
party, however triumphant, if they lose a war- 
rior in the fight, bring back a cause of mourning 
to their people, which casts a shade over the 
glory of their achievement. Hence, the Indian 
is often less fierce and reckless in general battle, 
than he is in a private brawl ; and the chiefs are 
checked in their boldest undertakings by the fear 
of sacrificing their warriors. 

This peculiarity is not confined to the Black- 
feet. Among the Osages, says Captain Bonne- 
ville, when a warrior falls in battle, his comrades, 
though they may have fought with consummate 
valor, and won a glorious victory, will leave their 



EFFECT OF THE LOSS OF A WARRIOR. 295 

arms upou the field of battle, and returning home 
with dejected countenances, will halt without the 
encampment, and wait until the relatives of the 
slain come forth and mvite them to mingle again 
with their people. 





CHAP.TER XXIX. 

Winter camp at the Portneuf. — Fine springs. — The Ban- 
neck Indians — their honesty. — Captain Bonneville pre- 
pares for an expedition. — Christmas. — The American 
Falls. — "Wild scenery. — Fishing Falls. — Snake Indians. — 
Scenery on the Bruneau. — View of volcanic country from 
a mountain. — Powder River. — Shoshokoes, or Root Dig- 
gers — their character, habits, habitations, dogs. — Vanity 
at its last shift. 

In establishing his winter camp near the 
Portneuf, Captain Bonneville had drawn 
off to some little distance from his Ban- 
neck friends, to avoid all annoyance from their 
intimacy or intrusions. In so doing, however, he 
had been obliged to take up his quarters on the 
extreme edge of the flat land, where he was en- 
compassed with ice and snow, and had nothing 
better for his horses to subsist on than wormwood. 
The Bannecks, on the contrary, were encamped 
among fine springs of water, where there was 
grass in abundance. Some of these springs gush 
out of the earth in sufficient quantity to turn a 
mill ; and furnish beautiful streams, clear as crys- 
tal, and full of trout of a large size ; which may 
be seen darting about the transparent water. 

Winter now set in regularly. The snow had 
fallen frequently, and in large quantities, and 
covered the ground to the depth of a foot ; and 



HONESTY OF BANNECKS. 297 

the continued coldness of the weather prevented 
any thaw. 

By degrees, a distrust which at first subsisted 
between the Indians and the trappers, subsided, 
and gave way to mutual confidence and good-will. 
A few presents convinced the chiefs that the white 
men were their friends : nor were the white men 
wanting in proofs of tlie honesty and good faith of 
their savage neighbors. Occasionally, the deep 
snow and the want of fodder obliged them to turn 
their weakest horses out to roam in quest of sus- 
tenance. If they at any time strayed to the 
camp of the Bannecks, they were immediately 
brought back. It must be confessed, however, 
that if the stray horse happened, by any chance, 
to be in vigorous plight and good condition, 
though he was equally sure to be returned by 
the honest Bannecks, yet it was always after the 
lapse of several days, and in a very gaunt and 
jaded state ; and always with the remark, that 
they had found him a long way off. The un- 
charitable were apt to surmise that he had, in the 
interim, been well used up in a buffalo hunt; but 
those accustomed to Indian morality in the matter 
of horseflesh, considered it a singular evidence of 
honesty, tiiat he should be brought back at all. 

Being convinced, therefore, from these and 
other circumstances, that his people were 
encamped in the neighborhood of a tribe as hon- 
est as they were valiant, and satisfied that they 
would pass their winter unmolested. Captain 
Bonneville prepared for a reconnoitring expedi- 
tion of great extent and peril. This was, to 



-J 



298 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

penetrate to the Hudson's Bay establishments on 
the banks of the Columbia, and to make himself 
acquainted with the country and the Indian tribes ; 
it being one part of his scheme to establish a 
trading post somewhere on the lower part of the 
river, so as to participate in the trade lost to the 
United States by the capture of Astoria. This 
expedition would, of course, take him through 
the Snake River country, and across the Blue 
Mountains, the scenes of so much hardship and 
disaster to Hunt and Crooks, and their Astorian 
bands, who first explored it, and he would have 
to pass through it in the same frightful season, 
the depth of winter. 

The idea of risk and hardship, however, only 
served to stimulate the adventurous spirit of the 
captain. He chose three companions for his jour- 
ney, put up a small stock of necessaries in the 
most portable form, and selected five horses and 
mules for themselves and their baggage. He pro- 
posed to rejoin his band in the early part of 
March, at the winter encampment near the Port- 
neuf. All these arrangements being completed, 
he mounted his horse on Christmas morning, and 
set off with his three comrades. They halted a 
little beyond the Banneck camp, and made their 
Christmas dinner, which, if not a very merry, 
was a very liearty one, after which they resumed 
their journey. 

They were obliged to travel slowly, to spare 
their horses ; for the snow had increased in depth 
to eighteen inches ; and though somewhat packed 
and frozen, was not sufficiently so to yield firm 



WILD SCENERY. 299 

footing. Their route lay to the west, down along 
the left side of Snake River ; and they were sev- 
eral days in reaching the first, or American Falls. 
The banks of the river, for a considerable dis- 
tance, both above and below the falls, have a vol- 
canic character : masses of basaltic rock are piled 
one upon another ; the water makes its way 
through their broken chasms, boiling through 
narrow channels, or pitching in beautiful cascades 
over ridges of basaltic columns. 

Beyond these falls, they came to a picturesque, 
but inconsiderable stream, called the Cassi^. It 
runs through a level valley, about four miles 
wide, where the soil is good ; but the prevalent 
coldness and dryness of the climate is unfavor- 
able to vegetation. Near to this stream there is 
a small moulitain of mica slate, including garnets. 
Granite, in small blocks, is likewise seen in this 
neighborhood, and white sandstone. From this 
river, the travellers had a prospect of the snowy 
heights of the Salmon River Mountains to the 
north ; the nearest, at least fifty miles distant. 

In pursuing his course westward, Captain 
Bonneville generally kept several miles from 
Snake River, crossing the heads of its tributary 
streams ; though he often found tlie open country 
so encumbered by volcanic rocks as to render 
travelling extremely difficult. Whenever he ap- 
proached Snake River, he found it running 
through a broad chasm, with steep, perpendicular 
sides of basaltic rock. After several days' travel 
across a level plain, he came to a part of the 
river which filled him with astonishment and 



300 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

admiration. As far as the eye could reach, the 
river was walled in by perpendicular cliffs two 
hundred and fifty feet high, beetling like dark 
and gloomy battlements, while blocks and frag- 
ments lay in masses at their feet, in the midst of 
the boiling and whirling current. Just above, 
the whole stream pitched in one cascade above 
forty feet in height, with a thundering sound, 
casting up a volume of spray that hung in the 
air like a silver mist. These are called by some 
the Fishing Falls, as the salmon are taken here 
in immense quantities. They cannot get by 
these falls. 

After encamping at this place all night. Cap- 
tain Bonneville, at sunrise, descended with his 
party through a narrow ravine, or rather crevice, 
in the vast wall of basaltic rock which bordered 
the river; this being the only mode, for many 
miles, of getting to the margin of the stream. 

The snow lay in a thin crust along the banks 
of the river, so that their travelling was much 
more easy than it had been hitherto. There 
were foot tracks, also, made by the natives, 
which greatly facilitated their progress. Occa- 
sionally, they met the inhabitants of this wild re- 
gion ; a timid race, and but scantily provided 
with the necessaries of life. Their dress con- 
sisted of a mantle about four feet square, formed 
of strips of rabbit skins sewed together : this 
they hung over their shoulders, in the ordinary 
Indian mode of wearing the blanket. Their 
weapons were bows and arrows ; the latter 
tipped with obsidian, which abounds in the neigh- 



SNAKE RIVER DEFILE. 801 

borliood. Their huts were shaped like haystacks, 
and constructed of branches of willow covered 
with long grass, so as to be warm and comfort- 
able. Occasionally, they were surrounded by 
small inclosures of wormwood, about three feet 
high, which gave them a cottage-like appearance. 
Three or four of these tenements were occasion- 
ally grouped together in some wild and striking 
situation, and had a picturesque effect. Some- 
times they were in sufficient number to form a 
small hamlet. From these people, Captain Bon- 
neville's party frequently purchased salmon, dried 
in an admirable manner, as were likewise the 
roes. This seemed to be their prime article of 
food ; but they were extremely anxious to get 
buffalo meat in exchange. 

The high walls and rocks, within which the 
travellers had been so long inclosed, now occa- 
sionally presented openings, through which they 
were enabled to ascend to the plain, and to cut 
off considerable bends of the river. 

Throughout the whole extent of this vast and 
singular chasm, the scenery of the river is said 
to be of the most wild and romantic character. 
The rocks present every variety of masses and 
grouping. Numerous small streams come rush- 
ing and boiling through narrow clefts and 
ravines : one of a considerable size issued from 
the face of a precipice, within twenty-five feet 
of its summit ; and after running in nearly a 
horizontal line for about one hundred feet, fell, 
by numerous small cascades, to the rocky bank 
of the river. 



302 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

In its career through this vast and singular 
defile, Snake River is upwards of three hundred 
yards wide, and as clear as spring water. Some- 
times it steals along with a tranquil and noiseless 
course ; at other times, for miles and miles, it 
dashes on in a thousand rapids, wild and beauti- 
ful to the eye, and lulling the ear with the soft 
tumult of plashing waters. 

Many of the tributary streams of Snake River 
rival it in the wildness and picturesqueness of 
their scenery. That called the Bruneau is partic- 
ularly cited. It runs through a tremendous 
chasm, rather than a valley, extending upwards 
of a hundred and fifty miles. You come upon it 
on a sudden, in traversing a level plain. It seems 
as if you could throw a stone across from cliff to 
cliff; yet, the valley is near two thousand feet 
deep : so that the river looks like an inconsider- 
able stream. Basaltic rocks rise perpendicularly, 
so that it is impossible to get from the plain 
to the water, or from the river margin to the 
plain. The current is bright and limpid. Hot 
springs are found on the borders of this river. 
One bursts out of the cliffs forty feet above the 
river, in a stream sufficient to turn a mill, and 
sends up a cloud of vapor. 

We find a characteristic picture of this vol- 
canic region of mountains and streams, furnished 
by the journal of Mr. Wyeth, which lies before 
us ; who ascended a peak in the neighborhood 
we are describing. From this summit, the coun- 
try, he says, appears an indescribable chaos ; the 
tops of the hills exhibit the same strata as far as 



SHOSHOKOE INDIANS. 303 

the eye can reach ; and appear to have once 
formed the level of the country ; and the valleys 
to be formed by the sinking of the earth, rather 
than the rising of the hills. Through the deep 
cracks and chasms thus formed, the rivers and 
brooks make their way, which renders it difficult 
to follow them. All these basaltic channels are 
called " cut rocks " by the trappers. Many of the 
mountain streams disappear in the plains ; either 
absorbed by their thirsty soil, and by the porous 
surface of the lava, or swallowed up in gulfs and 
chasms. 

On the 12th of January (1834), Captain Bon- 
neville reached Powder River ; much the largest 
stream that he had seen since leaving the Port- 
neuf. He struck it about three miles above its 
entrance into Snake River. Here he found him- 
self above the lower narrows and defiles of the 
latter river, and in an open and level country. 
Tiie natives now made their appearance in con- 
siderable numbers, and evinced the most insati- 
able curiosity respecting the white men ; sitting 
in groups for hours together, exposed to the 
bleakest winds, merely for the pleasure of gazing 
upon the strangers, and watching every move- 
ment. These are of that branch of the great 
Snake tribe called Shoshokoes, or Root Diggers, 
from their subsisting, in a great measure, on the 
roots of the earth ; though they likewise take 
fish in great quantities, and hunt, in a small way. 
They are, in general, very poor ; destitute of most 
of the comforts of life, and extremely indolent : 
but a mild, iuoflfensive race. They differ, in 



304 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

many respects, from the other branch of the 
Snake tribe, the Shoshonies, who possess horses, 
are more roving and adventurous, and hunt the 
buffalo. 

On the following day, as Captain Bonneville 
approached the mouth of Powder River, he dis- 
covered at least a hundred families of these Dig- 
gers, as they are familiarly called, assembled in 
one place. The women and children kept at a 
distance, perched among the rocks and cliffs ; 
their eager curiosity being somewhat dashed with 
fear. From their elevated posts, they scrutinized 
the strangers with the most intense earnestness ; 
regarding them with almost as much awe as if 
they had been beings of a supernatural order. 

The men, however, were by no means so shy 
and reserved ; but importuned Captain Bonne- 
ville and his companions excessively by their 
curiosity. Nothing escaped their notice ; and 
anything they could lay their hands on under- 
went the most minute examination. To get rid 
of such inquisitive neighbors, the travellers kept 
on for a considerable distance, before they en- 
camped for the night. 

The country hereabout was generally level 
and sandy ; producing very little grass, but a con- 
siderable quantity of sage or wormwood. The 
plains were diversified by isolated hills, all cut 
off, as it were, about the same height, so as to 
have tabular summits. In this they resembled 
the isolated hills of the great prairies east of the 
Rocky Mountains ; especially those found on the 
plains of the Arkansas. 



THE ROOT DIGGERS AND THEIR DOGS. 305 

The high precipices which had hitherto walled 
in the channel of Snake River had now disap- 
peared, and the banks were of the ordinary 
height. It should be observed, that the great 
valleys or plains through which the Snake River 
wound its course, were generally of great 
breadth, extending on each side from thirty to 
forty miles ; where the view was bounded by un- 
broken ridges of mountains. 

The travellers found but little snow in the 
neighborhood of Powder River, though the 
weather continued intensely cold. They learnt 
a lesson, however, from their forlorn friends, the 
Root Diggers, which they subsequently found of 
great service in their wintry wanderings. They 
frequently observed them to be furnished with 
long ropes, twisted from the bark of the worm- 
wood. This they used as a slow match, carrying 
it always lighted. Whenever they wished to 
warm themselves, they would gather together a 
little dry wormwood, apply the match, and in an 
instant produce a cheering blaze. 

Captain Bonneville gives a cheerless account 
of a village of these Diggers, which he saw in 
crossing the plain below Powder River. " They 
live," says he, " without any further protection 
from the inclemency of the season than a sort 
of break- weather, about three feet high, com- 
posed of sage (or wormwood), and erected 
around them in the shape of a half moon." 
Whenever he met with them, however, they had 
always a large suite of half-starved dogs ; for 
20 



306 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

these animals, in savage as well as in civilized 
life, seem to be the concomitants of beggary. 

These dogs, it must be allowed, were of more 
use than the beggarly curs of cities. The In- 
dian children used them in hunting the small 
game of the neighborhood, such as rabbits and 
prairie dogs; in which mongrel kind of chase 
they acquitted themselves with some credit. 

Sometimes the Diggers aspire to nobler game, 
and succeed in entrapping the antelope, the fleet- 
est animal of the prairies. The process by which 
this is effected is somewhat singular. When the 
snow has disappeared, says Captain Bonneville, 
and the ground become soft, the women go into 
the thickest fields of wormwood, and pulling it 
up in great quantities, construct with it a hedge, 
about three feet high, inclosing about a hundred 
acres. A single opening is left for the admission 
of the game. This done, the women conceal 
themselves behind the wormwood, and wait pa- 
tiently for the coming of the antelopes ; which 
sometimes enter this spacious trap in considerable 
numbers. As soon as they are in, the women 
give the signal, and the men hasten to play their 
part. But one of them enters the pen at a time ; 
and, after chasing the. terrified animals round the 
inclosure, is relieved by one of his companions. 
In this way the hunters take their turns, reliev- 
ing each other, and keeping up a continued pur- 
suit by relays, without fatigue to themselves. 
The poor antelopes, in the end, are so wearied 
down, that the whole party of men enter and dis- 
patch them with clubs — not one escaping that 



SHOSHOKOE MANLFACTURES. 307 

has entered the iiiclosure. The most curious cir- 
cumstance in this chase is, that an animal so fleet 
and agile as the antelope, and straining for its 
life, should range round and round this fated in- 
closure, without attempting to overleap the low- 
barrier which surrounds it. Such, however, is 
said to be the fact ; and such their only mode of 
hunting the antelope. 

Notwithstanding the absence of all comfort 
and convenience in their habitations, and the gen- 
eral squalidness of their appearance, the Shosho- 
koes do not appear to be destitute of ingenuity. 
They manufacture good ropes, and even a toler- 
ably fine thread, from a sort of weed found in 
their neighborhood ; and construct bowls and 
jugs out of a kind of basket-work formed from 
small strips of wood plaited : these, by the aid 
of a little wax, they render perfectly water tight. 
Beside the roots on which they mainly depend 
for subsistence, they collect great quantities of 
seed of various kinds, beaten with one hand out 
of the tops of the plants into wooden bowls held 
for that purpose. The seed thus collected is 
winnowed and parched, and ground between two 
stones into a kind of meal or flour ; which, when 
mixed with water, forms a very palatable paste 
or gruel. 

Some of these people, more provident and in- 
dustrious than the rest, lay up a stock of dried 
salmon, and other fish, for winter: with these, 
they were ready to traffic with the travellers for 
any objects of utility in Indian life ; giving a 
large quantity in exchange for an awl, a knife, 



308 B ONNE VILLE'S AD VEN TURKS. 

or a fish-hook. Others were in the most abject 
state of want and starvation, and would even 
gather up the fish-bones which the travellers 
threw away after a repast, warm them over 
again at the fire, and pick them with the great- 
est avidity. 

The further Captain Bonneville advanced into 
the country of these Root Diggers, the more evi- 
dence he perceived of their rude and forlorn con- 
dition. " They were destitute," says he, " of the 
necessary covering to protect them from the 
weather ; and seemed to be in the most unso- 
phisticated ignorance of any other propriety or 
advantage in the use of clothing. One old dame 
had absolutely nothing on her person but a 
thread round her neck, from which was pendent 
a solitary bead." 

What stage of human destitution, however, is 
too destitute for vanity ! Though these naked 
and forlorn-lookinoj beings had neither toilet 
to arrange, nor beauty to contemplate, their 
greatest passion was for a mirror. It was a 
" great medicine," in their eyes. The sight of 
one was sufficient, at any time, to throw them 
into a paroxysm of eagerness and delight ; and 
they were ready to give anything they had for the 
smallest fragment in which they might behold 
their squalid features. With this simple instance 
of vanity in its primitive but vigorous state, we 
shall close our remarks on the Root Diggers. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

Temperahare of the climate. — Root Diggers on horseback. — 
An Indian guide. — Mountain prospects. — The Grand 
Rond. — Difficulties on Snake River. — A scramble over the 
Blue Mountains. — Sufferings from hunger. — Prospect of 
the Immahah Valley. — The exhausted traveller. 




HE temperature of the regions west of 
the Rocky Mountains is much milder 
than in the same latitudes on the Atlan- 
tic side ; the upper plains, however, which lie at 
a distance from the sea-coast, are subject in winter 
to considerable vicissitude ; being traversed by lof- 
ty " sierras," crowned with perpetual snow, which 
often produce flaws and streaks of intense cold. 
This was experienced by Captain Bonneville and 
his companions in their progress westward. At 
the time when they left the Bannecks, Snake 
River was frozen hard :, as they proceeded, the 
ice became broken and floating ; it gradually dis- 
appeared, and the weather became warm and 
pleasant, as they approached a tributary stream 
called the Little Wyer; and the soil, which was 
generally of a watery clay, with occasional inter- 
vals of sand, was soft to the tread of the horses. 
After a time, however, the mountains approached 
and flanked the river ; the snow lay deep in the 
valleys, and the current was once more ice-bound. 



310 B ONNE VILLE' S AD VEN T URES. 

Here they were visited by a party of Root 
Diggers, who were apparently rising in the 
world, for they had " horse to ride and weapon 
to wear," and were altogether better clad and 
equipped than any of the tribe that Captain Bon- 
neville had met with. They were just from the 
plain of Boisee River, where they had left a 
number of their tribe, all as well provided as 
themselves, having guns, horses, and comfortable 
clothing. All these they obtained from the 
Lower Nez Perces, with whom they were in 
habits of frequent traffic. They appeared to have 
imbibed from that tribe their noncombative prin- 
ciples, being mild and inoffensive in their man- 
ners. Like them, also, they had something of 
religious feelings ; for Captain Bonneville ob- 
served that, before eating, they washed their 
hands and made a short prayer ; which he un- 
derstood was their invariable custom. From 
these Indians, he obtained a considerable supply 
of fish, and an excellent and well-conditioned 
horse, to replace one which had become too weak 
for the journey. 

The travellers now moved forward with reno- 
vated spirits ; the snow, it is true, lay deeper and 
deeper as they advanced, but they trudged on 
merrily, considering themselves well provided for 
the journey, which could not be of much longer 
duration. 

They had intended to proceed up the banks of 
Gun Creek, a stream which flows into Snake 
River from the west ; but were assured by the 
natives that the route in that direction was im- 



AN INDIAN GUIDE. 311 

practicable. The latter advised them to keep 
along Snake River, where they would not be im- 
peded by the snow. Taking one of the Diggers 
for a guide, they set off along the river, and to 
their joy soon found the country free from snow, 
as had been predicted, so that their horses once 
more had the benefit of tolerable pasturage. 
Their Digger proved an excellent guide, trudg- 
ing cheerily in the advance. He made an un- 
successful shot or two at a deer and a beaver, 
but at night found a rabbit hole, whence he ex- 
tracted the occupant, upon which, with the addi- 
tion of a fish given him by the travellers, he made 
a hearty supper, and retired to rest, filled with 
good cheer and good humor. 

The next day the travellers came to where the 
hills closed upon the river, leaving here and there 
intervals of undulating meadow land. The river 
was sheeted with ice, broken into hills at long in- 
tervals. The Digger kept on ahead of the party, 
crossing and recrossing the river in pursuit of 
game, until, unluckily, encountering a brother 
Digger, he stole off with him, without the cere- 
mony of leave-taking. 

Being now left to themselves, they proceeded 
until they came to some Indian huts, the inhabi- 
tants of which spoke a language totally different 
from any they had yet heard. One, however, 
understood the Nez Perc^ lanfjuaofe, and through 
him they made inquiries as to their route. These 
Indians were extremely kind and honest, and fur- 
nished them with a small quantity of meat ; but 
none of them could be induced to act as guides. 



312 B ONNE VILLE' S AD VEN T UR ES. 

Iraiuediately in the route of the travellers lay 
a high mountain, which they ascended with some 
ditHculty. The prospect from the summit was 
grand but disheartening. Directly before them 
towered the loftiest peaks of Iramahah, rising 
far higher than the elevated ground on which 
they stood ; on the other hand, they were en- 
abled to scan the course of the river, dashing 
along through deep chasms, between rocks and 
precipices, until lost in a distant wilderness of 
mountains, which closed the savage landscape. 

They remained for a long time contemplating, 
with perplexed and anxious eye, this wild congre- 
gation of mountain barriers, and seeking to dis- 
cover some practicable passage. The approach 
of evening obliged them to give up the task, and 
to seek some camping ground for the night. Mov- 
ing briskly forward, and plunging and tossing 
through a succession of deep snow-drifts they at 
length reached a valley known among trappers 
as the " Grand Rond," which they found entirely 
free from snow. 

This is a beautiful and very fertile valley, about 
twenty miles long and five or six broad ; a bright 
cold stream called the Fourche de Glace, or Ice 
River, runs through it. Its sheltered situation, 
embosomed in mountains, renders it good pastur- 
ing ground in the winter time ; when the elk 
come down to it in great numbers, driven out of 
the mountains by the snow. The Indians then 
resort to it to hunt. They likewise come to it 
in the summer time to dig the camash root, of 
which it produces immense quantities. When 



DIFFICULTIES ON SXAKE RIVER. 313 

this plant is in blossom, the whole valley is tinted 
by its blue flowers, and looks like the ocean when 
overcast by a cloud. 

After passing a night in this valley, the travel- 
lers in the morning scaled the neighboring hills, 
to look out for a more eligible route than that 
upon which they had unluckily fallen ; and, after 
much reconnoitring, determined to make their 
way once more to the river, and to travel upon 
the ice when the banks should prove impassable. 
On the second day after this determination, they 
were again upon Snake River, but, contrary to 
their expectations, it was nearly free from ice. 
A narrow ribbon ran along the shore, and some- 
times there was a kind of bridge across the 
stream, formed of old ice and snow. For a short 
time they jogged along the bank with tolerable 
facility, but at length came to where the river 
forced its way into the heart of the mountains, 
winding between tremendous walls of basaltic 
rock, that rose perpendicularly from the water 
edge, frowning in bleak and gloomy grandeur. 
Here difficulties of all kinds beset their path. 
The snow was from two to three feet deep, but 
soft and yielding, so that the horses had no foot- 
hold, but kept plunging forward, straining them- 
selves by perpetual effijrts. Sometimes the crags 
and promontories forced them upon the narrow 
ribbon of ice that bordered the shore ; sometimes 
they had to scramble over vast masses of rock 
which had tumbled from the impending preci- 
pices ; sometimes they had to cross the stream 
upon the hazardous bridges of ice and snow, sink- 



314 B ONNE VILLE' S AD VEN T URES. 

ing to the knee at every step ; sometimes they had 
to scale slippery acclivities, and to pass along nar- 
row cornices glazed with ice and sleet, a shoulder- 
ing wall of rock on one side, a yawning precipice 
on the other, where a single false step would have 
been fatal. In a lower and less dangerous pass, 
two of their horses actually fell into the river ; 
one was saved with much difficulty, but the bold- 
ness of the shore prevented their rescuing the 
other, and he was swept away by the rapid current. 

In this way they struggled forward, manfully 
braving difficulties and dangers, until they came 
to where the bed of the river was narrowed to a 
mere chasm, with perpendicular walls of rock that 
defied all further progress. Turning their faces 
now to the mountain, they endeavored to cross 
directly over it ; but, after clambering nearly to 
the summit, found their path closed by insur- 
mountable barriers. 

Nothing now remained but to retrace their 
steps. To descend a cragged mountain, how- 
ever, was more difficult and dangerous than to 
ascend it. They had to lower themselves, cau- 
tiously and slowly, from steep to steep ; and, while 
they managed with difficuUy to maintain their 
own footing, to aid their horses by holding on 
tirtnly to tlie rope halters, as the poor animals 
stumbled among slippery rocks, or slid down icy 
declivities. Thus, after a day of intense cold, and 
severe and incessant toil, amidst the wildest of 
scenery, they managed, about nightfall, to reach 
the camping ground from which they had started 
in the morning, and for the first time in the course 



SCALING THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. 315 

of their rugged and perilous expedition felt their 
hearts quailing under their multiplied hardships. 

A hearty supper, a tranquilizing pipe, and a 
sound night's sleep, put them all in better mood, 
and in the morning they held a consultation as to 
their future movements. About four miles be- 
hind, they had remarked a small ridge of moun- 
tains approaching closely to the river. It was 
determined to scale this ridge, and seek a passage 
into the valley which must lie beyond. Should 
they fail in this, but one alternative remained — 
To kill their horses, dry the tlesh for provisions, 
make boats of the hides, and in these commit 
themselves to the stream — a measure hazardous 
in the extreme. 

A short march brought them to the foot of the 
mountain, but its steep and cragged sides almost 
discouraged hope. The only chance of scaling it 
was by broken masses of rock, piled one upon 
another, which formed a succession of crags, 
reaching nearly to the summit. Up these they 
wrought their way with indescribable difficulty 
and peril, in a zigzag course, climbing from rock 
to rock, and helping their horses up after them ; 
which scrambled among the crags like mountain 
goats ; now and then dislodging some huge stone, 
which, the moment they had left it, would roll 
down the mountain, crashing and rebounding with 
terrific din. It was some time after dark before 
they reached a kind of platform on the summit 
of the mountain, where they could venture to en- 
camp. The winds, which swept this naked 
height, had whirled all the snow into the valley 



316 B ONNE VILLE' S AD VENTURES. 

beneath, so that the horses found tolerable winter 
pasturage on the dry grass which remained ex- 
posed. The travellers, though hungry in the ex- 
treme, were fain to make a very frugal supper ; 
for they saw their journey was likely to be pro- 
longed much beyond the anticipated term. 

In fact, on the following day they discerned 
that, although already at a great elevation, they 
were only as yet upon the shoulder of the moun- 
tain. It proved to be a great sierra, or ridge, of 
immense height, running parallel to the course of 
the river, swelling by degrees to lofty peaks, but 
the outline gashed by deep and precipitous ra- 
vines. This, in fact, was a part of the chain of 
Blue Mountains, in which the first adventurers 
to Astoria experienced such hardships. 

We will not pretend to accompany the travel- 
lers step by step in this tremendous mountain 
scramble, into which they had unconsciously be- 
trayed themselves. Day after day did their toil 
continue ; peak after peak had they to traverse, 
struggling with difficulties and hardships known 
only to the mountain trapper. As their course 
lay north, they had to ascend the southern faces 
of the heights, where the sun had melted the 
snow, so as to render the ascent wet and slippery, 
and to keep both men and horses continually on 
the strain ; while on the northern sides, the snow 
lay in such heavy masses that it was necessary 
to beat a track, down which the horses might be 
led. Every now and then, also, their way was 
impeded by tall and numerous pines, some of 
which had fallen, and lay in every direction. 



In the midst of these toils and hardships their 
provisions gave out. For three days they were 
without food, and so reduced that they could 
scarcely drag themselves along. At length one 
of the mules, being about to give out from fa- 
tigue and famine, they hastened to dispatch him. 
Husbanding this miserable supply, they dried the 
flfesh, and for three days subsisted upon the nu- 
triment extracted from the bones. As to the 
meat, it was packed and preserved as long as 
they could do without it, not knowing how long 
they might remain bewildered in these desolate 
regions. 

One of the men was now dispatched ahead to 
reconnoitre the country, and to discover, if pos- 
sible, some more practicable route. In the mean- 
time, the rest of the party moved on slowly. 
After a lapse of three days, the scout rejoined 
them. He informed them that Snake River ran 
immediately below the sierra or mountainous 
ridge upon which they were travelling ; that it 
was free from precipices, and was at no great 
distance from them in a direct line ; but that it 
would be impossible for them to reach it without 
making a weary circuit. Their only course 
would be to cross the mountain ridge to the left. 

Up this mountain, therefore, the weary trav- 
ellers directed their steps ; and the ascent, in 
their present weak and exhausted state, was one 
of the severest parts of this most painful journey. 
For two days were they toiling slowly from cliff 
to cliff, beatmg at every step a path through the 
snow for their faltering horses. At length they 



318 B ONNE VTLLKS AD VEN T DEES. 

reached the summit, where the snow was blown 
oif ; but in descending on the opposite side, they 
were often plunging through deep drifts, piled in 
the hollows and ravines. 

Their provisions were now exhausted, and 
they and their horses almost ready to give out 
with fatigue and hunger, when one afternoon, 
just as the sun was sinking behijid a blue line 
of distant mountain, they came to the brow of a 
height from which they beheld the smooth valley 
of the Immahah stretched out in smiling verdure 
below them. 

The sight inspired almost a frenzy of delight. 
Roused to new ardor, they forgot for a time their 
fatigues, and hurried down the mountain, dragging 
their jaded horses after them, and sometimes 
compelling them to slide a distance of thirty or 
forty feet at a time. At length they reached the 
banks of the Immahah. The young grass was 
just beginning to sprout, and the whole valley 
wore an aspect of softness, verdure, and repose, 
heightened by the contrast of the frightful region 
from which they had just descended. To add to 
their joy, they observed Indian trails along the 
margin of the stream, and other signs which gave 
them reason to believe that there was an en- 
campment of the Lower Nez Perces in the 
neighborhood, as it was within the accustomed 
range of that pacific and hospitable tribe. 

The prospect of a supply of food stimulated 
them to new exertion, and they continued on as 
fast as the enfeebled state of themselves and their 
steeds would permit. At length, one of the men, 



THE EXHAUSTED TRAVELLER. 319 

more exhausted than the rest, threw himself upon 
grass, and declared he could go no further. It 
was in vain to attempt to rouse him ; his spirit 
had given out, and his replies only showed the 
dogged apathy of despair. His companions, 
therefore, encamped on the spot, kindled a blazing 
fire, and searched about for roots with which to 
strengthen and revive him. They all then made 
a starveling repast ; but gathering round the fire, 
talked over past dangers and troubles, soothed 
themselves with the persuasion that all were 
now at an end, and went to sleep with the com- 
forting hope that the morrow would bring them 
into plentiful quarters. 




CHAPTER XXXI. 

Progress in the valley. — An Indian cavalier. — The Captain 
falls into a lethargy. — A Nez Perce patriarch. — Hospit- 
able treatment. — The bald head. — Bargaining. — Value 
of an old plaid cloak. — The family horse. — The cost of 
an Indian present. 



TRANQUIL night's rest had sufficiently 
restored the broken-down traveller to 
enable him to resume his wayfaring, 
and all hands set forward on the Indian trail. 
With all their eagerness to arrive within reach 
of succor, such was their feeble and emaciated 
condition, that they advanced but slowly. Nor 
is it a matter of surprise that they should almost 
have lost heart as well as strength. It was now 
(the 16th of February) fifty-three days that they 
had been travelling in the midst of winter, ex- 
posed to all kinds of privations and hardships ; 
and for the last twenty days they had been en- 
tangled in the wild and desolate labyrinths of 
the snowy mountains ; climbing and descending 
icy precipices, and nearly starved with cold and 
hunger. 

All the morning they continued following the 
Indian trail without seeing a human being, and 
were beginning to be discouraged, when, about 
noon, they discovered a horseman at a distance. 



AN INDIAN CAVALIER. 321 

He was coming directly towards them ; but on 
discovering them, suddenly reined up his steed, 
came to a halt, and, after reconnoitring them for 
a time with great earnestness, seemed about to 
make a cautious retreat. They eagerly made 
signs of peace, and endeavored, with the utmost 
anxiety, to induce him to approach. He re- 
mained for some time in doubt; but at length, 
having satisfied himself that they were not ene- 
mies, came galloping up to them. He was a 
fine, haughty-looking savage, foncifully decorated, 
and mounted on a high-mettled steed, with gaudy 
trappings and equipments. It was evident that 
he was a warrior of some consequence among his 
tribe. His whole deportment had something in 
it of barbaric dignity ; he felt, perhaj^s, his tem- 
porary superiority in personal array, and in the 
spirit of his steed, to the poor, ragged, travel- 
worn trappers, and their half-starved horses. 
Approaching them with an air of protection, he 
gave them his hand, and, in the Nez Perce lan- 
guage, invited them to his camp, which was only 
a few miles distant ; where he had plenty to eat, 
and plenty of horses, and would cheerfully share 
his good things with them. 

His hospitable invitation was joyfully accepted ; 
he lingered but a moment, to give directions by 
which they might find his camp, and then, wheel- 
ing round, and giving reins to his mettlesome 
steed, was soon out of sight. The travellers fol- 
lowed Avith gladdened hearts, but at a snail's 
pace ; for their poor horses could scarcely drag 
one leg after the other. Captain Bonneville, 
21 



322 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

however, experienced a sudden and singular 
change of feeling. Hitherto, the necessity of 
conducting his party, and of providing against 
every emergency, had kept his mind upon the 
stretch, and his whole system braced and excited. 
In no one instance had he flagged in spirit, or 
felt disposed to succumb. Now, however, that 
all danger was over, and the march of a few 
miles would bring them to repose and abundance, 
his energies suddenly deserted him; and every 
faculty, mental and physical, was totally relaxed. 
He had not proceeded two miles from the point 
where he had had the interview with the Nez 
Perce chief, when he threw himself upon the 
earth, without the jjower or will to move a mus- 
cle, or exert a thought, and sank almost instantly 
into a profound and dreamless sleep. His com- 
panions again came to a halt, and encamped be- 
side him, and there they passed the night. 

The next morning Captain Bonneville awak- 
ened from his long and heavy sleep, much re- 
freshed ; and they all resumed their creeping 
progress. They had not been long on the march, 
when eight or ten of the Nez Perce tribe came 
galloping to meet them, leading fresh horses 
to bear them to their camp. Thus gallantly 
mounted, they felt new life infused into their 
languid frames, and dashing forward, were soon 
at the lodges of the Nez Perces. Here they 
found about twelve families living together, under 
the patriarchal sway of an ancient and venerable 
chief. He received them with the hospitality of 
the golden age, and with sometliing of the same 



HOSPITABLE TREATMENT. 323 

kind of fare ; for while he opened his arms to 
make them welcome, the only repast he set be- 
fore them consisted of roots. They could have 
wished for something more hearty and substan- 
tial ; but, for want of better, made a voracious 
meal on these humble viands. The repast being 
over, the best pipe was lighted and sent round ; 
and this was a most welcome luxury, having lost 
their smoking apparatus twelve days before, 
among the mountains. 

Wliile they were thus enjoying themselves, 
their poor horses were led to the best pastures 
in the neighborhood, where they were turned 
loose to revel on the fresh sprouting grass ; so 
that they had better fare than their masters. 

Captain Bonneville soon felt himself quite at 
home among these quiet, inoffensive people. His 
long residence among their cousins, the Upper 
Nez Perces, had made him conversant with their 
language, modes of expression, and all their hab- 
itudes. He soon found, too, that he was well 
known among them, by report, at least, from the 
constant interchange of visits and messages be- 
tween the two branches of the tribe. They at 
first addressed him by his name, giving him his 
title of captain, with a French accent ; but they 
soon gave him a title of their own, which, as 
usual with Indian titles, had a peculiar significa- 
tion. In the case of the captain, it had some- 
what of a whimsical origin. 

As he sat chattinor and smokingr in the midst 
of them, he would occasionally take off his cap. 
"Whenever he did so, there was a sensation in 



324 BONNEVILLE: S ADVENTURES. 

the surrounding circle. The Indians would half 
rise from their recumbent posture, and gaze upon 
his uncovered head, with their usual exclamation 
of astonishment. The worthy captain was com- 
pletely bald ; a phenomenon very surprising 
in their eyes. They were at a loss to know 
whether he had been scalped in battle, or en- 
joyed a natural immunity from that belligerent 
infliction. In a little wliile, he became known 
among them by an Indian name, signifying " the 
bald chief." " A soubriquet," observes the cap- 
tain, " for which I can find no parallel in history 
since the days of ' Charles the Bald.' " 

Although the travellers had banqueted on roots, 
and been regaled with tobacco smoke, yet their 
stomachs craved more generous fare. In ap- 
proaching the lodges of the Nez Perces, they had 
indulged in fond anticipations of venison and dried 
salmon ; and dreams of the kind still haunted their 
imaginations, and could not be conjured down. The 
keen appetites of mountain trappers, quickened 
by a fortnight's fasting, at length got the better 
of all scruples of pride, and they fairly begged 
some fish or flesh firom the hospitable savages. 
The latter, however were slow to break in upon 
their winter store, wliich was very limited ; but 
were ready to fiirnish roots in abundance, which 
they pronounced excellent food. At length, 
Captain Bonne\^lle thought of a means of attain- 
ing the much-coveted gratification. 

He had about him, he says, a trusty plaid, an 
old and valued travelling companion and comforter, 
upon which the rains had descended, and the snows 



VALUE OF AN OLD PLAID CLOAK. 325 

and winds beaten, without further effect than some- 
what to tarnish its primitive lustre. This coat 
of many colors had excited the admiration, and 
inflamed the covetousness of both warriors and 
squaws to an extravagant degree. An idea now 
occurred to Captain Bonneville, to convert this 
rainbow garment into the savory viands so much 
desired. There was a momentary struggle in his 
mind between old associations and projected in- 
dulgence ; and his decision in favor of the latter 
was made, he says, with a greater promptness, 
perhajjs, than true taste and sentiment might have 
required. In a few moments, his plaid cloak was 
cut into numerous strips. " Of these," continues 
he, " with the newly developed talent of a man- 
milliiier, I speedily constructed turbans a la 
Tiirque, and fanciful head-gears of divers con- 
formations. These, judiciously distributed among 
such of the womenkind as seemed of most con- 
sequence and interest in the eyes of the patres 
conscripti, brought us, in a little wliile, abundance 
of dried salmon and deers' hearts ; on which we 
made a sumptuous supper. Another, and a more 
satisfactory smoke, succeeded this repast, and sweet 
slumbers answering the peaceful invocation of our 
pipes, wrapped us in that delicious rest which is 
only won by toil and travail." 

As to Captain Bonneville, he slept in the lodge 
of the venerable patriarch, who had evidently con- 
ceived a most disinterested affection for him, as 
was shown on the folio win 2: morninof. The trav- 
ellers, invigorated by a good supper and " fresh 
from the bath of repose," were about to resume 



326 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

their journey, when this affectionate old chief took 
the captain aside, to let him know how much he 
loved him. As a proof of his regard, he had 
determined to give him a fine horse, which would 
go farther than words, and put his good- will be- 
yond all question. So saying, he made a signal, 
and forthwith a beautiful young horse of a brown 
color, was led, prancing and snorting, to the place. 
Captain Bonneville was suitably affected by this 
mark of friendship ; but his experience in what is 
proverbially called " Indian giving," made him 
aware that a parting pledge was necessary on his 
own part, to prove that his friendship was 
reciprocated. He accordingly placed a handsome 
rifle in the hands of the venerable chief, whose 
benevolent heart was evidently touched and grati- 
fied by this outward and visible sign of amity. 

Having now, as he thought, balanced this little 
account of friendship, the cai:>tain was about to 
shift his saddle to this noble gift-horse, when the 
affectionate patriarch plucked him by the sleeve, 
and introduced to him a whimpering, whining, 
leathern-skinned old squaw, that might have 
passed for an Eg}qDtian mummy without drying. 
" This," said he, " is my wife : she is a good wife — 
I love her very much. — She loves the horse — 
she loves him a great deal — she will cry very 
much at losing him. — I do not know how I shall 
comfort her — and that makes my heart very sore." 

What could the worthy captain do, to console 
the tender-hearted old squaw, and, peradventure, 
to save the venerable patriarch from a curtain 
lecture ? He bethought himself of a pair of ear- 



COST OF AN INDIAN PRESENT. 327 

bobs : it was true, the patriarch's better-half was 
of an age and appearance that seemed to put 
personal vanity out of the question, but when is 
personal vanity extinct ? The moment he produced 
the glittering ear-bobs, the whimpering and whin- 
ing of the sempiternal beldame was at an end. 
She eagerly placed the precious baubles in her 
ears, and, though as ugly as the Witch of Endor, 
went off with a sideling gait, and coquettish air, 
as though she had been a perfect Semiramis. 

The captain had now saddled his newly acquired 
steed, and his foot was in the stirrup, when the 
affectionate patriarch again stepped forward, and 
presented to him a young Pierced-nose, who had 
a peculiarly sulky look. " This," said the vener- 
able chief, " is my son : he is very — good a great 
horseman — he always took care of this very fine 
horse — he brought him up from a colt, and made 
him what he is. — He is very fond of this fine 
horse — he loves him like a brother — his heart 
will be very heavy when this fine horse leaves 
the camp." 

What could the captain do to reward the youth- 
ful hope of this venerable pair, and comfort him 
for the loss of his foster-brother, the horse ? He 
bethought him of a hatchet, which might be spared 
from his slender stores. No sooner did he place 
the implement in the hands of young hopeful, 
than his countenance brightened up, and he went 
off rejoicing in his hatchet, to the full as much as 
did his respectable mother in her ear-bobs. 

The captain was now in the saddle, and about 
to start, when the affectionate old patriarch stepped 



328 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

forward, for the third time, and, while he hxid one 
hand gently on the mane of the horse, held up 
the rifle in the other. " This rifle," said he, " shall 
be my great medicine. I will hug it to my heart — 
I will always love it, for the sake of my good 
friend, the bald-headed chief. But a rifle, by 
itself, is dumb — I cannot make it speak. If I 
had a little powder and ball, I would take it out 
with me, and would now and then shoot a deer ; 
and when I brought the meat home to my hungry 
family, I would say — This was killed by the rifle 
of my friend, the bald-headed chief, to whom I 
gave that very fine horse." 

There was no resisting this appeal : the captain 
forthwith furnished the coveted supply of powder 
and ball ; but at the same time put spurs to liis 
very fine gift-horse, and the first trial of his speed 
was to get out of all further manifestation of 
friendship on the part of the affectionate old 
patriarch and his insinuating family. 




\ 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

Nez Perc^ camp. — A chief with a hard name. — The Big 
Hearts of the east. — Hospitable treatment. — The Indian 
guides. — Mysterious councils. — The loquacious chief. — 
Indian tomb. — Grand Indian reception. — An Indian feast. 
— Town criers. — Honesty of the Nez Perces. — The cap- 
tain's attempt at healing. 

OLLOWING the course of the Imma- 
i hah, Captain Bonneville and his three 
N.t^^JAjj companions soon reached the vicinity 
of Snake River. Their route now lay over a 
succession of steep and isolated hills, with pro- 
found valleys. On the second day after taking 
leave of the affectionate old patriarch, as they 
were descending mto one of those deep and 
abrupt intervals, they descried a smoke, and 
shortly afterwards came in sight of a small en- 
campment of Nez Perces. 

The Indians, when they ascertained that it 
was a party of white men approaching, greeted 
them with a salute of fire-arms, and invited them 
to encamp. This band was likewise under the 
sway of a venerable cliief named Yo-mus-ro-y-e- 
cut ; a name which we shall be careful not to 
inflict oftener than is necessary upon the reader. 
This ancient and hard-named cliieftain welcomed 
Captain Bonneville to liis camp with the same 



330 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

hospitality and loving-kindness that he had ex- 
perienced from his predecessors. He told the 
captain that he had often heard of the Americans 
and their generous deeds, and that his buffalo 
brethren (the Upper Nez Perces) had always 
spoken of them as the Big-hearted wliites of the 
East, the very good friends of the Nez Perces. 

Captain Bonneville felt somewhat uneasy 
under the responsibility of this magnanimous but 
costly appellation ; and began to fear he might 
be involved in a second interchange of j^ledges 
of friendship. He hastened, therefore, to let the 
old chief know his poverty-stricken state, and 
how little there was to be expected from him. 

He informed liim that he and his comrades 
had long resided among the Upper Nez Perces, 
and loved them so much that they had thrown 
their arms around them, and now held them close 
to their he-xrts. That he had received such good 
accounts from the Upper Nez Perces of their 
cousins the Lower Nez Perces, that he had 
become desirous of knowing them as friends and 
brothers. That he and his companions had ac- 
cordingly loaded a mule with presents and set off 
for the country of the Lower Nez Percys ; but, 
unfortunately, had been entrapped for many days 
among the snowy mountains ; and that the mule 
with all the presents had fallen into Snake River, 
and been swept away by the rapid current. 
That instead, therefore, of arriving among their 
friends, the Nez Perces, with light hearts and 
full hands, they came naked, hungry, and broken 
down ; and instead of making them presents, 



HOSPITABLE TREATMENT. 331 

must depend upon them even for food. " But," 
concluded he, " we are going to the white men's 
fort on the Wallah- Wallah, and will soon return ; 
and then we will meet our Nez Perce friends 
like the true Big Hearts of the East." 

Whether the hint thrown out in the latter 
part of the speech had any effect, or whether the 
old chief acted from the hospitable feelings which, 
according to the captain, are really inherent in 
the Nez Perce tribe, he certainly showed no dis- 
position to relax his friendship on learning the 
destitute circumstances of his guests. On the 
contrary, he urged the captain to remain with 
them until the following day, when he would ac- 
company him on his journey, and make him ac- 
quainted with all his people. In the meantime, 
he would have a colt killed and cut up for trav- 
elling pro^^sions. This, he carefully explained, 
was intended not as an article of traffic, but as a 
gift ; for he saw that his guests were hungry and 
in need of food. 

Captain Bonneville gladly assented to liis hos- 
pitable arrangement. The carcass of the colt 
was forthcommg in due season, but the captain 
insisted that one half of it should be set apart for 
the use of the chieftam's family. 

At an early hour of the following morning, 
the little party resumed their journey, accom- 
panied by the old chief and an Indian guide. 
Their route was over a rugged and broken 
country, where the hills were slippery with ice 
and snow. Their horses, too, were so weak and 
jaded that they could scarcely climb the steep 



332 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

ascents, or maintain their foothold on the frozen 
declivities. Throughout the whole of the jour- 
ney, the old chief and the guide were unremittmg 
in their good offices, and continually on the alert 
to select the best roads, and assist them through 
all difficulties. Indeed, the captain and his com- 
rades had to be dependent on their Indian friends 
for almost everything, for they had lost then- 
tobacco and pipes, those great comforts of the 
trapper, and had but a few charges of powder 
left, which it was necessary to husband for the 
purpose of lighting their fires. 

Li the course of the day the old chief had 
several private consultations with the guide, and 
showed evident signs of being occupied with some 
mysterious matter of mighty import. What it 
was, Captain Bonneville could not fathom, nor 
did he make much effort to do so. From some 
casual sentences that he overheard, he perceived 
that it was something from which the old man 
promised himself much satisfaction, and to wliich 
he attached a little vainglory, but which he 
wished to keep a secret ; so he suffered him to 
spin out his petty plans unmolested. 

In the evening when they encamped, the old 
chief and his privy counsellor, the guide, had 
another mysterious colloquy, after which the 
guide mounted his horse and departed on some 
secret mission, while the chief resumed his seat 
at the fire, and sat humming to himself in a 
pleasing but mystic reverie. 

The next morning, the travellers descended 
into the valley of the Way-lee-way, a considera- 



THE LOQUACIOUS CHIEF. 333 

ble tributary of Snake River. Here they met 
the guide returning from his secret errand. An- 
other private conference was held between him 
and the old mana2rin<T chief, who now seemed 
more inflated than ever with mystery, and self- 
importance. Numerous fresh trails, and various 
other signs, persuaded Captain Bonneville that 
there must be a considerable village of Nez 
Perces in the neighborhood ; but as his worthy 
companion, the old chief, said nothing on the sub- 
ject, and as it appeared to be in some way con- 
nected with his secret operations, he asked no 
questions, but patiently awaited the development 
of his mystery. 

As they journeyed on, they came to where 
two or three Indians were bathing in a small 
stream. The good old chief immediately came 
to a halt, and had a long conversation with them, 
in the course of which he repeated to them the 
whole liistory which Captain Bonneville had 
related to him. In fiict, he seems to have been 
a very sociable, communicative old man ; by no 
means afflicted with that taciturnity generally 
charged upon the Indians. On the contrary, he 
was fond of long talks and long smokings, and 
evidently was proud of his new friend, the bald- 
headed chief, and took a pleasure in sounding his 
praises, and setting forth the power and glory of 
the Big Hearts of the East. 

Having disburdened himself of everything he 
had to relate to his bathing friends, he left them 
to their aquatic disports, and proceeded onward 
with the captain and his companions. As they 



334 B ONNE VILLE'S AD VENTURES. 

approached the Way-lee-way, however, the com- 
municative old chief met with another and a very 
different occasion to exert his colloquial powers. 
On the banks of the river stood an isolated mound 
covered with grass. He pointed to it with some 
emotion. " The big heart and the strong arm," 
said he, "lie buried beneath that sod." 

It was, in fact, the grave of one of his friends, 
a chosen warrior of the tribe, who had been slain 
on this spot when in pursuit of a war party of 
Shoshokoes, who had stolen the horses of the 
village. The enemy bore off his scalp as a trophy ; 
but his friends found his body ui this lonely place, 
and committed it to the earth with ceremonials 
characteristic of their pious and reverential feelings. 
They gathered round the grave and mourned ; 
the warriors were silent in their grief; but the 
women and children bewailed their loss with loud 
lamentations. " For three days," said the old 
man, " we performed the solemn dances for the 
dead, and prayed the Great Spirit that our brother 
might be happy in the land of brave warriors and 
hunters. Then we killed at his grave fifteen of 
our best and strongest horses, to serve him when 
he should arrive at the happy hunting grounds ; 
and having done all this, we returned sorrowfully 
to our homes." 

While the chief was still talking, an Indian 
scout came galloping up, and, presenting him with 
a powder-horn, wheeled round, and was speedily 
out of sight. The eyes of the old chief now 
brightened, and all his self-importance returned. 
His petty mystery was about to explode. Turn- 



GRAND INDIAN RECEPTION. 335 

ing to Captain Bonneville, he pointed to a hill 
hard by, and informed him that behind it was a 
village governed by a little chief, whom he had 
notified of the approach of the bald-headed chief, 
and a party of the Big Hearts of the East, and 
that he was prepared to receive them in becoming 
style. As, among other ceremonials, he mtended 
to salute them with a discharge of fire-arms, he 
had sent the horn of gunpowder that they might 
return the salute in a manner correspondent to 
his dignity. 

They now proceeded on until they doubled the 
point of the hill, when the whole population of 
the village broke upon their view, drawn out in 
the most imposing style, and arrayed in all their 
finery. The effect of the whole was wild and fan- 
tastic, yet singularly striking. In the front rank 
were the chiefs and principal warriors, glaringly 
painted and decorated ; behind them were arranged 
the rest of the people, men, women, and children. 

Captain Bonneville and his party advanced 
slowly, exchanging salutes of fire-arms. When 
arrived within a respectful distance, they dis- 
mounted. The chiefs then came forward succes- 
sively, according to their respective characters and 
consequence, to offer the hand of good-fellowship ; 
each filing off when he had shaken hands, to make 
way for his successor. Those in the next rank 
followed in the same order, and so on, until all 
had given the pledge of friendship. During all 
this time, the chief, according to custom, took his 
stand beside the guests. If any of his people 
advanced whom he judged unworthy of the friend- 



8 3 G B ONNE VILLr S AD VEN T URES. 

shij) or confidence of the white men, he motioned 
them off by a wave of the hand, and they would 
submissively walk away. When Captain Bonne- 
ville turned upon him an inquiring look, he would 
observe, " he was a bad man," or something quite 
as concise, and there was an end of the matter. 

Mats, poles, and other materials were now 
brought, and a comfortable lodge was soon erected 
for the strangers, where they were kept constantly 
supplied with wood and water, and other neces- 
saries ; and all their effects were placed in safe 
keeping. Their horses, too, were unsaddled, and 
turned loose to graze, and a guard set to keep 
watch upon them. 

All this being adjusted, they were conducted to 
the main building or council house of the village, 
where an ample repast, or rather banquet, was 
sj)read, which seemed to realize all the gastro- 
nomical dreams that had tantalized them during 
their long starvation ; for here they beheld not 
merely fish and roots in abundance, but the flesh 
of deer and elk, and the choicest pieces of buffalo 
meat. It is needless to say how vigorously they 
acquitted themselves on this occasion, and how 
unnecessary it was for their hosts to practice the 
usual cramming principle of Indian hospitality. 

"S^Tien the repast was over, a long talk ensued. 
The chief showed the same curiosity evinced by 
his tribe generally, to obtain information concern- 
ing the United States, of which they knew little 
but what they derived through their cousins, the 
Upper Nez Perces ; as their traffic is almost ex- 
clusively with the British traders of the Hudson's 



WALKING NEWSPAPERS. 337 

Bay Company. Captain Bonneville did his best 
to set forth the merits of his nation, and the im- 
portance of their friendship to the red men, in 
which he was ably seconded by his worthy friend, 
the old chief with the hard name, who did all that 
he conld to glorify the Big Hearts of the East. 

The chief, and all present, listened with pro- 
found attention, and evidently with great interest ; 
nor were the important facts thus set forth, con- 
fined to the audience in the lodge ; for sentence 
after sentence was loudly repeated by a crier for 
the benefit of the whole village. 

This custom of promulgating everything by 
criers, is not confined to the Nez Perces, but pre- 
vails among many other tribes. It has its ad- 
vantage where there are no gazettes to publish 
the news of the day, or to report the proceedmgs 
of important meetings. And in fact, reports of 
this kind, viva voce, made in the hearing of all 
parties, and liable to be contradicted or corrected 
on the spot, are more likely to convey accurate 
information to the public mind, than those cir- 
culated through the press. The office of crier is 
generally filled by some old man, who is good for 
little else. A village has generally several of these 
walking newspapers, as they are termed by the 
whites, who go about proclaiming the news of 
the day, giving notice of public councils, expedi- 
tions, dances, feasts, and other ceremonials, and 
advertising anything lost. While Captain Bonne- 
ville remained among the Nez Perces, if a glove, 
handkerchief, or anything of similar value, was 



338 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

lost or mislaid, it was carried by the finder to the 
lodge of the chief, and proclamation was made by 
one of their criers, for the owner to come and 
claim his property. 

How difficult it is to get at the true character 
of these wandermg tribes of the wilderness ! In 
a recent work, we have had to speak of this tribe 
of Indians from the experience of other traders 
who had casually been among them, and who re- 
presented them as selfish, inhospitable, exorbitant 
in their dealings and much addicted to thieving : ^ 
Captain Bonneville, on the contrary, who resided 
much among them, and had repeated ojjportunities 
of ascertaining theu' real character, invariably 
speaks of them as kind and hospitable, scrupulously 
honest, and remarkable, above all other Indians 
that he had met with, for a strong feeling of reli- 
gion. In fact, so enthusiastic is he in their praise, 
that he pronounces them, all ignorant and bar- 
barous as they are by their condition, one of the 
purest-hearted people on the face of the earth. 

Some cures wliich Captain Bonneville had ef- 
fected in simple cases, among the Upper Nez 
Perces, had reached the ears of their cousins 
here, and gained for him the reputation of a 
great medicine man. He had not been long in 
the village, therefore, before his lodge began to 
be the resort of the sick and the infirm. The cap- 
tain felt the value of the reputation thus acci- 
dentally and cheaply acquired, and endeavored 
to sustain it. As he had arrived at that age 
1 Vide Astoria, chap. lii. 



THE CAPTAIN A MEDICINE MAN. 339 

when every man is, experimentally, sometliing* 
of a physician, he was enabled to turn to ad- 
vantage the little knowledge in the healmg art 
which he had casually picked up ; and was 
sufficiently successful in two or three cases, to 
convince the simjjle Indians that report had not 
exaggerated his medical talents. The only pa- 
tient that effectually baffled his skill, or rather dis- 
couraged any attempt at relief, was an antiquated 
squaw with a church-yard cough, and one leg in 
the grave ; it being shrunk and rendered useless 
by a rheumatic affection. This was a case be- 
yond his mark; however, he comforted the old 
woman with a promise that he would endeavor 
to procure something to relieve her, at the fort 
on the Wallah- Wallah, and would bring it on 
his return ; with which assurance her husband 
was so well satisfied, that he presented the cap- 
tain with a colt, to be killed as provisions for the 
journey : a medical fee which was thankfully ac- 
cepted. 

While among these Indians, Captain Bonne- 
ville unexpectedly found an owner for the horse 
which he had purchased from a Root Digger at 
the Big Wyer. The Indian satisfactorily proved 
that the horse had been stolen from liim some time 
previous, by some unknown thief. " However," 
said the considerate savage, " you got him in fau' 
trade — you are more in want of horses than I 
am : keep him ; he is yours — he is a good horse ; 
use him well." 

Thus, in the continual experience of acts of 
kindness and generosity, which liis destitute con- 



340 



B ONNE VILLE' S AD VENTURES. 



•dition did not allow him to reci23rocate, Cai^tain 
Bonneville j^assed some short time among these 
good people, more and more impressed with the 
general excellence of their character. 





CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Scenery of the "Way-lee-way. — A substitute for tobacco. — 
Sublime scenery of Snake River. — The garrulous old chief 
and his cousin. — A Nez Perc^ meeting. — A stolen skin. 
— The scapegoat dog. — Mysterious conferences. — The lit- 
tle chief. — His hospitality. — The captain's account of the 
United States. — His healing skill. 

IN resuming his journey, Captain Bonne- 
ville was conducted by the same Nez 
Perce guide, whose knowledge of the 
country was important in choosing the routes 
and resting places. He also continued to be 
accompanied by the worthy old chief with the 
hard name, who seemed bent upon doing the 
honors of the country, and introducing him to 
every branch of his tribe. The Way-lee-way, 
down the banks of which Captain Bonneville 
and his companions were now travelling, is a 
considerable stream winding through a succession 
of bold and beautiful scenes. Sometimes the 
landscape towered into bold and mountainous 
heights that partook of subhmity ; at other 
times, it stretched along the water-side in fresh 
smiling meadows, and graceful undulating val- 
leys. 

Frequently in their route they encountered 
small parties of the Nez Percys, with whom they 



342 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

invariably stopped to shake hands ; and who, 
generally, evinced great curiosity concerning 
them and their adventures ; a curiosity which 
never failed to be thorouglily satisfied by the 
replies of the worthy Yo-mus-ro-y-e-cut, who 
kindly took upon himself to be spokesman of 
the party. 

The incessant smoking of pipes incident to the 
long talks of this excellent, but somewhat garru- 
ous old chief, at length exhausted all his stock 
of tobacco, so that he had no. longer a whifF 
with which to regale his white companions. In 
this emergency, he cut up the stem of his pipe 
into fine shavings, which he mixed with certain 
herl)s, and thus manufactured a temporary suc- 
cedaneum, to enable him to accompany his long 
colloquies and harangues with the customary 
fragrant cloud. 

If the scenery of the Way-lee-way had charmed 
the travellers with its mingled amenity and grand- 
eur, that which broke upon them on once more 
reaching Snake River, filled them with admira- 
tion and astonishment. At times, the river was 
overhung by dark and stupendous rocks, rising 
like gigantic walls and battlements ; these would 
be rent by wide and yawning chasms, that 
seemed to speak of past convulsions of nature. 
Sometimes the river was of a glassy smoothness 
and placidity ; at other times it roared along in 
impetuous rapids and foaming cascades. Here, 
the rocks were piled in the most fixntastic crags 
and precipices ; and in another place, they were 
succeeded by delightful valleys carpeted with 



SCENERY OF SNAKE RIVER. 343 

green-sward. The whole of this wild and varied 
scenery was dommated by immense mountains 
rearing their distant peaks into the clouds. " The 
grandeur and originality of the views, presented 
on every side," says Captain Bonneville, " beggar 
both the pencil and the pen. Nothing we had ever 
gazed upon in any other region could for a moment 
compare in wild majesty and impressive sternness, 
with the series of scenes which here at every turn 
astonished our senses, and filled us with awe and 
delight." 

Indeed, from all that we can gather from the 
journal before us, and the accounts of other 
travellers, who passed through these regions in 
the memorable enterprise of Astoria, we are 
inclined to think that Snake River must be one 
of the most remarkable for varied and striking 
scenery of all the rivers of this continent. From 
its head waters in the Rocky Mountains, to its 
junction with the Columbia, its windings are 
upwards of six hundred miles through every 
variety of landscape. Rising in a volcanic region, 
amidst extinguished craters, and mountains awful 
with the traces of ancient fires, it makes its way 
through great plains of lava and sandy deserts, 
penetrates vast sierras or mountainous chains, 
broken into romantic and often frightful prec- 
ipices, and crowned with eternal snows ; and at 
other times, careers through green and smiling 
meadows, and wide landscapes of Italian grace 
and beauty. Wildness and sublimity, however, 
appear to be its prevailing characteristics. 

Captain Bonneville and his companions had 



344 B ONNE VILLE S AD VEN T URES. 

pursued their journey a considerable distance 
down the course of Snake River, when the old 
chief halted on the bank, and dismounting, 
recommended that they should turn their horses 
loose to graze, while he summoned a cousin of his 
from a group of lodges on the opposite side of 
the stream. His summons was quickly answered. 
An Lidian, of an active, elastic form, leaped into 
a light canoe of cotton-wood, and vigorously 
plying the paddle, soon shot across the river. 
Bounding on shore, he advanced with a buoyant 
air and frank demeanor, and gave his right hand 
to each of the party in turn. The old chief, 
whose hard name we forbear to repeat, now 
presented Captain Bonneville, in form, to his 
cousin, whose name, we regret to say, was no 
less hard, being nothing less than Hay-she-in- 
cow-cow. The latter evinced the usual curiosity 
to know all about the strangers, whence they 
came, wliither they were going, the object of their 
journey, and the adventures they had exi3erienced. 
All these, of course, were amply and eloquently 
set forth by the communicative old chief. To all 
his grandiloquent account of the bald-headed chief 
and his countrymen, the Big Hearts of the East, 
his cousin listened with great attention, and 
replied in the customary style of Indian welcome. 
He then desired the party to await his return, 
and, springing into his canoe, darted across the 
river. In a little while he returned, bringing 
a most welcome supply of tobacco, and a small 
stock of provisions for the road, declarmg his 
intention of accompanying the party. Havmg no 



THE STOLEN SKIN. 345 

horse, he mounted behind one of the men, ob- 
serving that he should procure a steed for him- 
self on the following day. 

They all now jogged on very sociably and 
cheerily together. Not many miles beyond, they 
met others of the tribe, among whom was one, 
whom Captain Bonneville and his comrades had 
known during their residence among the Upper 
Nez Perces, and who welcomed them with open 
arms. In this neighborhood was the home of 
their guide, who took leave of them with a 
jDrofusion of good wishes for their safety and 
happiness. That night they put up in the hut 
of a Nez Perce, where they were visited by 
several warriors from the other side of the river, 
friends of the old chief and his cousin, who came 
to have a talk and a smoke with the white men. 
The heart of the good old chief was overflowing 
with good-will at thus being surrounded by his 
new and old friends, and he talked with more 
spirit and vivacity than ever. The evening 
passed away in perfect harmony and good-humor, 
and it was not until a late hour that the visitors 
took their leave and recrossed the river. 

After this constant picture of worth and virtue 
on the part of the Nez Perce tribe, we grieve to 
have to record a cu-cumstance calculated to throw 
a temporary shade upon the name. In the course 
of the social and harmonious evening just men- 
tioned, one of the captain's men, who happened 
to be somethhig of a virtuoso in his way, and 
fond of collecting curiosities, produced a small 
skin, a great rarity in the eyes of men con- 



346 B ONNE VILLUS AD VENTURES. 

versant iu peltries. It attracted much attention 
among the visitors from beyond the river, who 
passed it from one to the other, examined it with 
looks of lively admiration, and pronounced it a 
great medicine. 

In the morning, when the captain and his 
party were about to set off, the precious skin 
was missing. Search was made for it in the hut, 
but it was nowhere to be found; and it was 
strongly suspected that it had been purlomed by 
some of the connoisseurs from the other side of 
the river. 

The old chief and his cousin were indignant at 
the supposed delinquency of their friends across 
the water, and called out for them to come over 
and answer for their shameful conduct. The 
others answered to the call with all the prompti- 
tude of perfect innocence, and spurned at the idea 
of their being capable of such outrage upon any 
of the Big-hearted nation. All were at a loss on 
whom to fix the crime of abstracting the in- 
valuable skin, when by chance the eyes of the 
worthies from beyond the water fell upon an 
unhappy cur, belonging to the owner of the hut. 
He was a gallows-looking dog, but not more so 
than most Indian dogs, who, take them in the 
mass, are little better than a generation of vipers. 
Be that as it may, he was instantly accused of 
having devoured the skin in question. A dog 
accused is generally a dog condemned ; and a dog 
condemned is generally a dog executed. So was 
it in the present instance. The unfortunate cur 
was arraigned ; his thievish looks substantiated 



THE SCAPEGOAT DOG. 347 

his guilt, and he was condemned by his judges 
fi'om across the river to be hanged. In vain the 
Indians of the hut, with whom he was a great 
favorite, interceded in his behalf. In vain 
Captain Bonneville and his comrades petitioned 
that his life might be spared. His judges were 
inexorable. He was doubly guilty : first, in 
having robbed their good friends, the Big Hearts 
of the East ; secondly, in having brought a doubt 
on the honor of the Nez Perce tribe. He was, 
accordingly, swung aloft, and pelted with stones 
to make his death more certain. The sentence 
of the judges bemg thoroughly executed, a post 
mortem examination of the body of the dog was 
held, to establish his delinquency beyond all 
doubt, and to leave the Nez Perces without a 
shadow of suspicion. Great interest, of course, 
was manifested by all present, during this oper- 
ation. The body of the dog was opened, the 
intestines rigorously scrutinized, but, to the 
horror of all concerned, not a particle of the skin 
was to be found — the dog had been unjustly 
executed ! 

A great clamor now ensued, but the most 
clamorous was the party from across the river, 
whose jealousy of their good name now prompted 
them to the most vociferous vindications of their 
innocence. It was with the utmost difficulty that 
the captain and his comrades could calm their 
lively sensibilities, by accounting for the dis- 
appearance of the skin in a dozen different ways, 
until all idea of its havino^ been stolen was 
entirely out of the question. 



348 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

The meeting now broke up. The warriors 
returned across the river, the captain and his 
comrades proceeded on their journey; but the 
spirits of the communicative old chief, Yo-mus- 
ro-y-e-cut, were for a time completely dampened, 
and he evinced great mortification at what had 
just occurred. He rode on in silence, except, 
that now and then he would give way to a burst 
of indignation, and exclaim, with a shake of the 
head and a toss of the hand toward the opposite 
shore — "bad men, very bad men across the 
river ; " to each of which brief exclamations, his 
worthy cousin. Hay -she -in -cow -cow, would 
respond by a deep guttural sound of acquies- 
cence, equivalent to an amen. 

After some time, the countenance of the old 
chief again cleared up, and he fell into repeated 
conferences, in an under tone, with his cousin, 
which ended in the departure of the latter, who, 
applying the lash to his horse, dashed forward 
and was soon out of sight. In fact, they were 
drawing near to the village of another chief, 
likewise distinguished by an appellation of some 
longitude, 0-push-y-e-cut ; but commonly known 
as the great chief. The cousin had been sent 
ahead to give notice of their approach ; a herald 
appeared as before, bearing a powder-horn, to 
enable them to respond to the intended salute. 
A scene ensued, on their approach to the village, 
similar to that which had occurred at the village 
of the little chief. The whole population ap- 
peared in the field, drawn up in lines, arrayed 
with the customary regard to rank and dignity. 



0-P USE- r-E- CUT. 349 

Then came on the firing of salutes, and the 
shaking of hands, in which last ceremonial every 
individual, man, woman, and child, participated ; 
for the Indians have an idea that it is as indis- 
pensable an overture of friendship among the 
whites as smoking of the pipe is among the red 
men. The travellers were next ushered to the 
banquet, where all the choicest viands that the 
village could furnish, were served up in rich pro- 
fusion. They were afterwards entertained by 
feats of agility and horse-races ; indeed, their 
visit to the village seemed the signal for com- 
plete festivity. In the meantime, a skin lodge 
had been spread for their accommodation, their 
horses and baggage were taken care of, and wood 
and water supplied in abundance. At night, 
therefore, they retired to their quarters, to enjoy, 
as they supposed, the repose of which they stood 
in need. No such thing, however, was in store 
for them. A crowd of visitors awaited their 
appearance, all eager for a smoke and a talk. 
The pipe was immediately lighted, and constantly 
replenished and kept alive until the night was 
far advanced. As usual, the utmost eagerness 
was evinced by the guests to learn everything 
within the scope of their comprehension respect- 
ing the Americans, for whom they professed the 
most fraternal regard. The captain, in his re- 
plies, made use of familiar illustrations, calculated 
to strike their minds, and impress them with 
such an idea of the might of his nation, as would 
induce them to treat with kindness and respect 
all stragglers that might fall in their path. To 



350 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

their inquiries as to the numbers of the people 
of the United States, he assured them that they 
were as countless as the blades of grass in the 
prairies, and that, great as Snake River was, if 
they were all encamped upon its banks, they 
would drink it dry in a single day. To these 
and similar statistics, they listened with profound 
attention, and apparently, implicit belief. It was, 
indeed, a striking scene : the captain, with his 
hunter's dress and bald head in the midst, hold- 
ing forth, and his wild auditors seated around 
like so many statues, the fire lighting up their 
painted faces and muscular figures, all fixed and 
motionless, excepting when the pipe was passed, 
a question propounded, or a startling fact in 
statistics received with a movement of surprise 
and a half suppressed ejaculation of wonder and 
delight. 

The fame of the captain as a healer of dis- 
eases, had accompanied him to this village, and 
the great chief, 0-push-y-e-cut, now entreated him 
to exert his skill on his daughter, who had be6n 
for three days racked with pains, for which the 
Pierced-nose doctors could devise no alleviation. 
The captain found her extended on a pallet of 
mats in excruciating pain. Her father mani- 
fested the strongest paternal affection for her, and 
assured the captain that if he would but cure 
her, he would place the Americans near his 
heart. The worthy captain needed no such in- 
ducement. His kind heart was already touched 
by the sufferings of the poor girl, and his sympa- 
thies quickened by her appearance ; for she was 



TEE CHIEF'S DAUGHTER. 351 

but about sixteen years of age, and uncommonly 
beautiful in form and feature. The only diffi- 
culty with the captain was, that he knew nothing 
of her malady, and that his medical science was 
of the most haphazard kind. After considering 
and cogitating for some time, as a man is apt to 
do when in a maze of vague ideas, he made a 
desperate dash at a remedy. By his directions, 
the girl was placed in a sort of rude vapor-bath, 
much used by the Nez Perces, where she was 
kept until near fainting. He then gave her a 
dose of gunpowder dissolved in water, and ordered 
her to be wrapped in buffalo robes and put to 
sleep under a load of furs and blankets. The 
remedy succeeded: the next morning she was 
free from pain, though extremely languid ; where- 
upon, the captain prescribed for her a bowl of 
colt's head broth, and that she should be kept 
for a time on simple diet. 

The great chief was unbounded in his expres- 
sions of gratitude for the recovery of his daugh- 
ter. He would fain have detained the captain a 
long time as his guest, but the time for de- 
parture had arrived. When the captain's horse 
was brought for him to mount, the chief declared 
that the steed was not worthy of him, and sent 
for one of his best horses, which he presented in 
its stead ; declaring that it made his heart glad 
to see his friend so well mounted. He then ap- 
pointed a young Nez Perce to accompany his 
guests to the next village, and " to carry his 
talk " concerning thera ; and the two parties 
separated with mutual expressions of kindness 
and feelin<2:s of good-will. 



352 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

The vapor-bath of which we have made men- 
tion is in frequent use among the Nez Perce 
tribe, chiefly for cleanliness. Their sweating- 
houses, as they call them, are small and close 
lodges, and the vapor is produced by water 
poured slowly upon red-hot stones. 

On passing the limits of 0-push-y-e-cut's do- 
mains, the travellers left the elevated table-lands, 
and all the wild and romantic scenery which has 
just been described. They now traversed a 
gently undulating country, of such fertility that 
it excited the rapturous admiration of two of the 
captain's followers, a Kentuckian and a native of 
Ohio. They declared that it surpassed any land 
that they had ever seen, and often exclaimed, what 
a delight it would be just to run a plough through 
such a rich and teeming soil, and see it open its 
bountiful promise before the share. 

Another halt and sojourn of a night was made 
at the village of a chief named He-mim-el-piljD, 
where similar ceremonies were observed and 
hospitality experienced, as at the preceding vil- 
lages. They now pursued a west-southwest 
course through a beautiful and fertile region, 
better wooded than most of the tracts through 
which they had passed. In their progress, they 
met with several bands of Nez Perces, by whom 
tliey were invariably treated with the utmost 
kindness. Witliin seven days after leaving the 
domain of He-mim-el-pilp, they struck the Co- 
lumbia River at Fort Wallah- Wallah, where 
they arrived on the 4th of March, 1834. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Fort Wallah-Wallah — its commander. — Indians in its 
neighborhood. — Exertions of Mr. Panibrune for their im- 
provement. — Religion. — Code of laws. — Kange of the 
Lower Nez Perces. — Camash, and other roots. — Nez 
Percd horses. — Preparations for departure. — Refusal of 
supplies. — Departure. — A laggard and glutton. 




ORT Wallah- Wallah is a trading post 
of the Hudson's Bay Company, situated 
just above the mouth of the river of 
the same name, and on the left bank of the Co- 
lumbia. It is built of drift-wood, and calculated 
merely for defense against any attack of the na- 
tives. At the time of Captain Bonneville's ar- 
rival, the whole garrison mustered but six or 
eight men ; and the post was under the superin- 
tendence of Mr. Pambrune, an agent of the 
Hudson's Bay Company. 

The great post and fort of the company, form- 
ing the emporium of its trade on the Pacific, is 
Fort Vancouver ; situated on the right bank of 
the Columbia, about sixty miles from the sea, 
and just above the mouth of the Wallamut. To 
this point, the company removed its establishment 
from Astoria, in 1821, after its coalition with the 
Northwest Company. 

Captain Bonneville and his comrades experi- 
23 



354 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

enced a polite reception from Mr. Pambrune, the 
superintendent : for, however hostile the mem- 
bers of the British Company may be to the en- 
terprises of American traders, they have always 
manifested great courtesy and hospitality to the 
traders themselves. 

Fort Wallah- Wallah is surrounded by the 
tribe of the same name, as well as by the Skyn- 
ses, and the Nez Perces ; who bring to it the 
furs and peltries collected in their hunting expe- 
ditions. The Wallah- Wallahs are a degenerate, 
worn-out tribe. The Nez Perces are the most 
numerous and tractable of the three tribes just 
mentioned. Mr. Pambrune informed Captain 
Bonneville, that he had been at some pains to in- 
troduce the Christian religion, in the Roman 
Catholic form, among them, where it had evi- 
dently taken root ; but had become altered and 
modified, to suit their peculiar habits of thought, 
and motives of action ; retaining, however, the 
principal points of faith, and its entire precepts 
of morality. The same gentleman had given 
them a code of laws, to which they conformed 
with scrupulous fidelity. Polygamy, which once 
prevailed among them to a great extent, was now 
rarely indulged. All the crimes denounced by 
the Christian faith, met with severe punishment 
among them. Even theft, so venial a crime 
among the Indians, had recently been punished 
with hanging, by sentence of a chief. 

There certainly appears to be a peculiar sus- 
ceptibility of moral and religious improvement 
among this tribe, and they would seem to be one 



THE LOWER NEZ PERCES. 355 

of the very, very few, that have benefited in 
morals and manners, by an intercourse with white 
men. The parties which visited them about 
twenty years previously, in the expedition fitted 
out by Mr. Astor, complained of their selfishness, 
their extortion, and their thievish propensities. 
The \evy reverse of those qualities prevailed 
among them during the prolonged sojourns of 
Captain Bonneville. 

The Lower Nez Perces range upon the Way- 
lee-way, Immahah, Yenghies, and other of the 
streams west of the mountains. They hunt the 
beaver, elk, deer, white bear, and mountain 
sheep. Beside the flesh of these animals, they 
use a number of roots for food ; some of which 
would be well worth transplanting and cultiva- 
ting in the Atlantic States. Among these is the 
kamash, a sweet root, about the form and size of 
an onion, and sajid to be really delicious. The 
cowisli, also, or biscuit root, about the size of a 
walnut, which they reduce to a very palatable 
flour, together with the jackap, aisish, qnako, 
and others ; which they cook by steaming them 
in the ground. 

In August and September, these Indians keep 
along the rivers, where they catch and dry great 
quantities of salmon ; which, while they last, are 
their principal food. In the winter, they congre- 
gate in villages formed of comfortable huts, or 
lodges, covered with mats. They are generally 
clad in deer-skins, or woolens, and extremely 
well armed. Above all, they are celebrated for 
owning great numbers of horses ; which they 



356 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

mark, and then suffer to range in droves in their 
most fertile plains. These horses are principally 
of the pony breed ; but remarkably stout and 
long-winded. They are brought in great num- 
bers to the establishments of the Hudson's Bay 
Company, and sold for a mere trifle. 

Such is the account given by Captain Bonne- 
ville of the Nez Perces ; who, if not viewed by 
him with too partial an eye, are certainly among 
the gentlest, and least barbarous people of these 
remote wildernesses. They invariably signified 
to him their earnest wish that an American post 
might be established among them ; and repeated- 
ly declared that they would trade with Ameri- 
cans, in preference to any other people. 

Captain Bonneville had intended to remain 
some time in this neighborhood, to form an ac- 
quaintance with the natives and to collect infor- 
mation, and establish connections that might be 
advantageous in the way of trade. The delays, 
however, which he had experienced on his jour- 
ney, obliged him to shorten his sojourn, and to 
set off* as soon as possible, so as to reach the ren- 
dezvous at the Portneuf at the appointed time. 
He had seen enough to convince him that an 
American trade might be carried on with advan- 
tage in this quarter ; and he determined soon to 
return with a stronger party, more completely 
fitted for the purpose. 

As he stood in need of some supplies for his 
journey, he applied to purchase them of Mr. 
Pambrune ; but soon found the difference be- 
tween being treated as a guest, or as a rival 



REFUSAL OF SUPPLIES. 357 

trader. The worthy superintendent, who had 
extended to him all the genial rites of hospital- 
ity, now suddenly assumed a withered-up aspect 
and demeanor, and observed that, however he 
might feel disposed to serve him, personally, he 
felt bound by his duty to the Hudson's Bay 
Company, to do nothing which should facilitate 
or encourage the visits of other traders among 
the Indians in that part of the country. He en- 
deavored to dissuade Captain Bonneville from 
returning through the Blue Mountains ; assuring 
him it would be extremely difficult and danger- 
ous, if not impracticable, at this season of the 
year ; and advised him to accompany Mr. Pay- 
ette, a leader of the Hudson's Bay Company, 
who was about to depart with a number of men, 
by a more circuitous, but safe route, to carry sup- 
plies to the company's agent, resident among the 
Upper Nez Perces. Captain Bonneville, how- 
ever, piqued at his having refused to furnish him 
with supplies, and doubting the sincerity of his 
advice, determined to return by the more direct 
route through the mountains ; though varying his 
course, in some respects, from that by which he 
had come, in consequence of information gath- 
ered among the neighboring Indians. 

Accordingly, on the 6th of March, he and 
his three companions, accompanied by their Nez 
Perc^ guides, set out on their return. In the 
early part of their course, they touched again at 
several of the Nez Perce villages, where they 
had experienced such kind treatment on their way 
down. Tliey were always welcomed with cordi- 



358 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

ality ; and everything was done to cheer them 
on their journey. 

On leaving the Way-lee-way village, they 
were joined by a Nez Perc^, whose society was 
welcomed on account of the general gratitude and 
good-will they felt for his tribe. He soon proved 
a heavy clog upon the little party, being doltish 
and taciturn, lazy in the extreme, and a huge 
feeder. His only proof of intellect was in 
shrewdly avoiding all labor, and availing him- 
self of the toil of others. When on the march, 
he always lagged behind the rest, leaving to them 
the task of breaking a way through all difficulties 
and impediments, and leisurely and lazily jogging 
along the track, which they had beaten through 
the snow. At the evening encampment, when 
others were busy gathering fuel, providing for the 
horses, and cooking the evening repast, this 
worthy Sancho of the wilderness would take his 
seat quietly and cosily by the fire, puffing away 
at his pipe, and eying in silence, but with wistful 
intensity of gaze, the savory morsels roasting for 
supper. 

When meal-time arrived, however, then came 
his season of activity. He no longer hung back, 
and waited for others to take the lead, but dis- 
tinguished himself by a brilliancy of onset, and 
a sustained vigor and duration of attack, that 
completely shamed the efforts of his competitors 
— albeit, experienced trenchermen of no mean 
prowess. Never had they witnessed such a 
power of mastication, and such marvelous capac- 
ity of stomach, as in this native and uncultivated 



A SANCHO OF THE WILDERNESS. 359 

gastronome. Having, by repeated and prolonged 
assaults, at length completely gorged himself, he 
would wrap himself up, and lie with the torpor 
of an anaconda, slowly digesting his way on to the 
next repast. 

The gormandizing powers of this worthy were, 
at first, matters of surprise and merriment to the 
travellers ; but they soon became too serious for 
a joke, threatening devastation to the flesh-pots ; 
and he was regarded askance, at his meals, as a 
regular kill-crop, destined to waste the substance 
of the party. Nothing but a sense of the obliga- 
tions they were under to his nation, induced them 
to bear with such a guest; but he proceeded, 
speedily, to relieve them from the weight of these 
obligations, by eating a receipt in full. 






^.^ 




CHAPTER XXXV. 

The uninvited guest. — Free and easy manners. — Salutary- 
jokes. — A prodigal son. — Exit of the glutton. — A sud- 
den change in fortune. — Danger of a visit to poor relation?. 
— Plucking of a prosperous man. — A vagabond toilet. — 
A substitute for the very tine horse. — Hard travelling. — 
The uninvited guest and the patriarchal colt. — A beggar on 
horseback. — A catastrophe. — Exit of the merry vagabond. 

S Captain Bonneville and his men were 
encamped one evening among the hiUs 
near Snake River, seated before their 
fire, enjoying a hearty supper, they were sud- 
denly surprised by the visit of an uninvited guest. 
He was a ragged, half-naked Inchan hunter, 
armed with bow and arrows, and had the carcass 
of a fine buck thrown across his shoulder. Ad- 
vancing with an alert step, and fi-ee and easy air, 
he threw the buck on the ground, and, without 
waiting for an mvitation, seated himself at their 
mess, helped himself without ceremony, and 
chatted to the right and left in the liveliest and 
most unembarrassed manner. No adroit and 
veteran dinner hunter of a metropolis could have 
acquitted himself more knowingly. The trav- 
ellers were at first completely taken by surprise, 
and could not but admire the fiicility with which 
this ragged cosmopolite made himself at home 



THE UNINVITED GUEST, 361 

among them. TVliile they stared he went on, 
makmg the most of the good cheer upon which 
he had so fortunately ahghted ; and was soon 
elbow deep in " pot luck," and greased from the 
tip of his nose to the back of his ears. 

As the company recovered from their surprise, 
they began to feel annoyed at this intrusion. 
Their uninvited guest, unlike the generality of 
his tribe, was somewhat dirty as well as ragged, 
and they had no relish for such a messmate. 
Heaping up, therefore, an abundant portion of 
the " provant " upon a piece of bark which 
served for a dish, they invited him to confine 
himself thereto, instead of foraging in the gen- 
eral mess. 

He complied with the most accommodating 
spirit imaginable ; and went on eating and chat- 
ting, and laughmg and smearing himself, until his 
whole countenance shone with ojrease and good- 
humor. In the course of his repast, his attention 
was caught by the figure of the gastronome, who, 
as usual, was gorgmg himself in dogged silence. 
A droll cut of the eye showed either that he 
knew him of old, or perceived at once his char- 
acteristics. He immediately made him the 
butt of his pleasantries ; and cracked oiF two or 
three good hits, that caused the sluggish dolt to 
prick up his ears, and delighted all the company. 
From this time, the unmvited guest was taken into 
favor ; his jokes began to be relished ; his care- 
less, free and easy air, to be considered singu- 
larly amusing ; and in the end, he was pro- 
nounced by the travellers one of the merriest 



362 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

companions and most entertaining vagabonds 
they had met with in the wilderness. 

Suj:)per being over, the redoubtable She-wee- 
she-ouaiter, for such was the simple name by 
which he announced himself, declared his inten- 
tion of keeping company with the party for a 
day or two, if they had no objection ; and by 
way of backing his self-invitation, presented 
the carcass of the buck as an earnest of liis 
hunting abilities. By tliis time, he had so com- 
pletely effaced the unfavorable impression made 
by his first appearance, that he was made wel- 
come to the camp, and the Nez Perce guide 
undertook to give him lodging for the night. 
The next morning, at break of day, he borrowed 
a gun, and was off among the hills, nor was any- 
thing more seen of him until a few minutes after 
the party had encamped for the evening, when 
he again made his appearance, in his usual frank, 
careless manner, and threw down the carcass of 
another noble deer, which he had borne on his 
back for a considerable distance. 

Tliis evenmg he was the life of the party, and 
his open communicative disposition, free from all 
disguise, soon put them in possession of his his- 
tory, lie had been a kind of prodigal son in liis 
native village ; living a loose, heedless life, and 
disregarding the precepts and imperative com- 
mands of the chiefs. He had, in consequence, 
been expelled from the village, but, in nowise 
disheartened at this banishment, had betaken 
himself to the society of the border Indians, and 
had led a careless, hap-hazard, vagabond life, 



EXIT OF THE GLUTTON. 363 

perfectly consonant to his humors ; heedless of 
the future, so long as he had wherewithal for the 
present ; and fearing no lack of food, so long as 
he had the implements of the chase, and a fair 
huntinoj o-round. 

Finding him very expert as a hunter, and 
being pleased with his eccentricities, and his 
strange and merry humor, Captain Bonneville 
fitted him out handsomely as the Nimrod of the 
party, who all soon became quite attached to him. 
One of the earliest and most signal services he 
performed, was to exorcise the insatiate kill-crop, 
that had hitherto oppressed the party. In fact, 
the doltish Nez Perce, who had seemed so per- 
fectly msensible to rough treatment of every kind, 
by which the travellers had endeavored to elbow 
him out of their society, could not withstand the 
good-humored bantering, and occasionally sharp 
wit of She-wee-she. He evidently quailed under 
his jokes, and sat blinking like an owl in day- 
light, when pestered by the flouts and peckings 
of mischievous birds. At length his place was 
found vacant at meal-time; no one knew when 
he went otf, or whither he had gone, but he was 
seen no more, and the vast surplus that remained 
when the repast was over, showed what a mighty 
gormandizer had departed. 

Relieved from this incubus, the little party 
now went on cheerily. She-wee-she kept them 
in fun as well as food. His hunting was always 
successful ; he was ever ready to render any 
assistance in the camp or on the march ; while his 
jokes, his antics, and the very cut of his counte- 



364 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

nance, so fiiU of whim and comicality, kept every 
one in good-humor. 

In this way they journeyed on until they ar- 
rived on the banks of the Immahah, and en- 
camped near to the Nez Perce lodges. Here 
She-wee-she took a sudden notion to visit his 
people, and show off the state of worldly pros- 
perity to which he had so suddenly attained. 
He accordingly departed in the morning, arrayed 
in hunter's style, and well appointed with every- 
thing befitting his vocation. The buoyancy of 
his gait, the elasticity of his step, and the hilarity 
of his countenance, showed that he anticipated, 
with chuckling satisfaction, the surprise he was 
about to give those who had ejected him from 
their society in rags. But what a change was 
there in his whole appearance when he rejoined 
the party in the evening ! He came skulking 
into camp like a beaten cur, with his tail be- 
tween his legs. All his finery was gone ; he 
was naked as when he was born, with the ex- 
ception of a scanty flap that answered the pur- 
pose of a fig-leaf. His fellow-travellers at first 
did not know him, but supposed it to be some 
vagrant Root Digger sneaking into the camp ; 
but when they recognized in this forlorn object 
their prime wag. She-wee-she, whom they had 
seen depart in the morning in such high glee and 
high feather, they could not contain their merri- 
ment, but hailed him with loud and repeated peals 
of laughter. 

She-wee-she was not of a spirit to be easily 
cast down ; he soon joined in the merriment as 



A REVERSE OF FORTUNE. 365 

heartily as any one, and seemed to consider his 
reverse of fortune an excellent joke. Captain 
Bonneville, however, thought proper to check his 
good-humor, and demanded, with some degree of 
sternness, the cause of his altered condition. He 
replied in the most natural and self-complacent 
style imaguaable, " that he had been among his 
cousins, who were very poor; they had been 
delighted to see him ; still more delighted with 
his good fortune ; they had taken him to their 
arms ; admired his equipments ; one had begged 
for this ; another for that " — in fine, what with 
the poor devil's inherent heedlessness, and the real 
generosity of his disposition, his needy cousins 
had succeeded in stripping him of all his clothes 
and accoutrements, excepting the fig-leaf with 
which he had returned to camp. 

Seemg his total want of care and forethought. 
Captain Bonneville determined to let him suiFer 
a little, in hopes it might prove a salutary lesson ; 
and, at any rate, to make him no more presents 
while in the neighborhood of his needy cousins. 
He was left, therefore, to shift for himself in his 
naked condition ; which, however, did not seem 
to give him any concern, or to abate one jot of 
his good-humor. In the course of his lounsino: 
about the camp, however, he got possession of a 
deer-skin ; whereupon, cutting a slit in the mid- 
dle, he thrust his head through it, so that the 
two ends hung down before and behind, some- 
thing like a South American poncho, or the ta- 
bard of a herald. These ends he tied together, 
under the armpits; and thus arrayed, presented 



366 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

himself once more before the captain, with an 
air of perfect self-satisfaction, as though he 
thought it impossible for any fault to be found 
with his toilette. 

A little further journeying brought the travel- 
lers to the petty village of Nez Perces, governed 
by the worthy and affectionate old patriarch who 
had made Captain Bonneville the costly present 
of the very fine horse. The old man welcomed 
them once more to his village with his usual 
cordiality, and his respectable squaw and hopeful 
son, cherishing grateful recollections of the hatchet 
and ear-bobs, joined m a chorus of friendly gratu- 
lation. 

As the much-vaunted steed, once the joy and 
pride of this interesting family, was now nearly 
knocked up by travelling, and totally inadequate 
to the mountain scramble that lay ahead, Captain 
Bonneville restored him to the venerable patri- 
arch, with renewed acknowledgments for the 
invaluable gift. Somewhat to his surprise, he 
was immediately supplied with a fine two years' 
old colt in his stead, a substitution which, he 
afterwards learnt, according to Indian custom 
in such cases, he might have claimed as a matter 
of right. We do not find that any after claims 
were made on account of this colt. This dona- 
tion may be regarded, therefore, as a signal punc- 
tilio of Indian honor ; but it will be found that 
the animal soon proved an unlucky acquisition to 
the party. 

Wliile at this village, the Nez Perce guide had 
held consultations with some of the inhabitants 



THE INDIAN DROLL. 3G7 

as to the mountain tract the party were about to 
traverse. He now began to wear an anxious 
aspect, and to indulge in gloomy forebodings. 
The snow, he had been told, lay to a great depth 
in the passes of the mountains, and difficulties 
would increase as he proceeded. He begged 
Captain Bonneville, therefore, to travel very 
slowly, so as to keep the horses in strength and 
spirit for the hard times they would have to en- 
counter. The Captain surrendered the regula- 
tion of the march entirely to his discretion, and 
pushed on in the advance, amusmg himself with 
hunting, so as generally to kill a deer or two in 
the course of the day, and arriving, before the 
rest of the party, at the spot designated by the 
guide for the evening's encampment. 

In the meantime, the others plodded on at the 
heels of the guide, accompanied by that merry 
vagabond. She-wee-she. The primitive garb 
worn by this droll, left all his nether man ex- 
posed to the biting blasts of the mountains. 
Still his wit was never frozen, nor his sunshmy 
temper beclouded ; and his innumerable antics 
and practical jokes, while they quickened the 
circulation of his own blood, kept liis companions 
in high good-humor. 

So passed the first day after the departure 
from the patriarch's. The second day com- 
menced in the same manner ; the captain in the 
advance, the rest of the party following on slowly. 
She- wee-she, for the greater part of the time, 
trudged on foot over the snow, keeping himself 
warm by hard exercise, and all kinds of crazy 



368 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

capers. In the height of his foolery, the patri- 
archal colt, which, unbroken to the saddle, was 
suffered to follow on at large, happened to come 
within his reach. In a moment, he was on his 
back, snapping his fingers, and yelping with de- 
light. The colt, unused to such a burden, and 
half wild by nature, fell to prancing and rearing 
and snorting and plunging and kicking; and, at 
length, set off full speed over the most danger- 
ous ground. As the route led generally along 
the steep and craggy sides of the hills, both horse 
and horseman were constantly in danger, and 
more than once had a hair-breadth escape from 
deadly peril. Nothing, however, could daunt 
this madcap savage. He stuck to the colt like a 
plaster, up ridges, down gullies ; whooping and 
yelling with the ^vildest glee. Never did beggar 
on horseback display more headlong horseman- 
ship. His companions followed him with their 
eyes, sometimes laughing, sometimes holding in 
their breath at his vagaries, until they saw the 
colt make a sudden plunge or start, and pitch 
his unlucky rider headlong over a precipice. 
There was a general cry of horror, and all 
hastened to the spot. They found the poor 
fellow lying among the rocks below, sadly 
bruised and mangled. It was almost a miracle 
that he had escaped with life. Even in tliis con- 
dition, his merry spirit was not entirely quelled, 
and he summoned up a feeble laugh at the 
alarm and anxiety of those who came to his re- 
lief. He was extricated from his rocky bed, and 
a messenger dispatched to inform Captain Bonne- 



MISADVENTURE OF SHE- WEE-SHE. 369 

ville of the accident. The latter returned with 
all speed, and encamped the party at the first 
convenient spot. Here the wounded man was 
stretched upon buffklo skins, and the captain, 
who officiated on all occasions as doctor and 
surgeon to the party, proceeded to examine his 
wounds. The principal one was a long and deep 
gash in the thigh, which reached to the bone. 
Calling for a needle and thread, the captain now 
prepared to sew up the wound, admonishing the 
patient to submit to the operation with becoming 
fortitude. His gayety was at an end ; he could 
no longer summon up even a forced smile ; and, 
at the first puncture of the needle, flinched so pit- 
ously, that the captam was obliged to pause, and 
to order him a powerful dose of alcohol. This 
somewhat rallied up his spirit and warmed his 
heart ; all the time of the operation, however, 
he kept his eyes riveted on the wound, with his 
teeth set, and a whimsical wincing of the counte- 
nance, that occasionally gave his nose something 
of its usual comic curl. 

When the wound was fairly closed, the captain 
washed it with rum, and administered a second 
dose of the same to the patient, who was tucked 
in for the night, and advised to compose himself 
to sleep. He was restless and uneasy, however ; 
repeatedly expressing his fears that his leg would 
be so much swollen the next day, as to prevent 
his proceeding with the party ; nor could he be 
quieted, until the captain gave a decided opinion 
favorable to his wishes. 

Early the next morning, a gleam of his merry 
24 



370 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES, 

humor returned, on finding that his wounded 
limb retained its natural proportions. On at- 
tempting to use it, however, he found liimself 
unable to stand. He made several efforts to 
coax himself into a belief that he might still 
continue forward ; but at length, shook his head 
despondingly, and said, that " as he had but one 
leg," it was all in vain to attempt a passage of 
the mountain. 

Every one grieved to part with so boon a 
companion, and under such disastrous circumstan- 
ces. He was once more clothed and equipped, 
each one making him some parting present. He 
was then helped on a horse, which Captain Bon- 
neville presented to him ; and after many part- 
ing expressions of good-will on both sides, set off 
on his return to his old haunts ; doubtless, to be 
once more plucked by his affectionate but needy 
cousins. 




CHAPTER XXXVI. 

The difficult mountain. — A smoke and consultation. — The 
captain's speech. — An icy turnpike. — Danger of a false 
step. — Arrival on Snake River. — Return to Portueuf. — 
Meeting of Comrades. 

ONTINUING their journey up the 
course of the Immahah, the travellers 
found, as they approached the head 
waters, the snow increased in quantity, so as to 
lie two feet deep. They were again obliged, 
therefore, to beat down a path for tlieir horses, 
sometimes travelling on the icy surface of the 
stream. At length they reached the place where 
they intended to scale the mountain ; and, hav- 
ing broken a pathway to the foot, were agreea- 
bly surprised to find that the wind had drifted 
the snow from off the side, so that they attained 
tho summit with but little difficulty. Here they 
encamped, with the intention of beating a track 
through the mountains. A short experiment, 
however, obliged them to give up the attempt, 
the snow lying in vast drifts, often higher than 
the horses' heads. 

Captain Bonneville now took the two Indian 
guides, and set out to reconnoitre the neighbor- 
hood. Observing a high peak which overtopped 
the rest, he climbed it, and discovered from the 



372 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

summit a pass about nine miles long, but so 
heavily piled with snow, that it seemed impracti- 
cable. He now lit a pipe, and, sitting down 
with the two guides, proceeded to hold a consul- 
tation after the Indian mode. For a long while 
they all smoked vigorously and in silence, pon- 
dering over the subject-matter before them. At 
length a discussion commenced, and the opinion 
in which the two guides concurred, was, that the 
horses could not possibly cross the snows. They 
advised, therefore, that the party should proceed 
on foot, and they should take the horses back to 
the village, where they would be well taken care 
of until Captain Bonneville should send for them. 
They urged this advice with great earnestness ; 
declaring that their chief would be extremely 
angry, and treat them severely, should any of 
the- horses of his good friends, the white men, be 
lost, in crossing under their guidance ; and that, 
therefore, it was good they should not attempt 
it. 

Captain Bonneville sat smoking his pipe, and 
listening to them with Indian silence and gravity. 
When they had finished, he replied to them in 
their own style of language. 

" My friends," said he, " I have seen the pass, 
and have listened to your words ; you have little 
hearts. When troubles and dangers lie in your 
way, you turn your backs. That is not the way 
with my nation. When great obstacles present, 
and threaten to keep them back, their hearts 
swell, and they push forward. They love to 
conquer difficulties. But enough for the pres- 



MAKING AN ICE ROAD. 373 

ent. Night is coming on ; let us return to our 
camp." 

He moved on, and they followed in silence. 
On reaching the camp, he found the men ex- 
tremely discouraged. One of their number had 
been surveying the neighborhood, and seriously 
assured them, that the snow was at least a hun- 
dred feet deep. The captain cheered them up, 
and diffused fresh spirit in them by his example. 
Still he was much perplexed how to proceed. 
About dark there was a slight drizzling rain. 
An expedient now suggested itself. This was to 
make two light sleds, place the packs on them, 
and drag them to the other side of the mountain, 
thus forming a road in the wet snow, which, 
should it afterwards freeze, would be sufficiently 
hard to bear the horses. This plan was promptly 
put into execution; the sleds were constructed, 
the heavy baggage was drawn backward and for- 
ward until the road was beaten, when they de- 
sisted from their fatiguing labor. The night 
turned out clear and cold, and by morning, their 
road was incrusted with ice sufficiently strong for 
their purpose. Tiiey now set out on their icy 
turnpike, and got on well enough, excepting that 
now and then a horse would sidle out of the 
track, and immediately sink up to the neck. 
Then came on toil and difficulty, and they would 
be obliged to haul up the floundering animal with 
ropes. One, more unlucky than the rest, after 
repeated falls, had to be abandoned in the snow. 
Notwithstanding these repeated delays, they suc- 
ceeded, before the sun had acquired sufficient 



374 B ONNE VILLI? S AD VE^T TUBES. 

power to thaw the snow, in getting all the rest 
of their horses safely to the other side of the 
mountain. 

Their difficulties and dangers, however, were 
not yet at an end. They had now to descend, 
and the whole surface of the snow was glazed 
with ice. It was necessary, therefore, to wait 
until the warmth of the sun should melt the 
glassy crust of sleet, and give them a foothold 
in the yielding snow. They had a frightful 
warning of the danger of any movement while 
the sleet remained. A wild young mare, in her 
restlessness, strayed to the edge of the declivity. 
One slip was fatal to her ; she lost her balance, 
careered with headlong velocity down the slip- 
pery side of the mountain for more than two 
thousand feet, and was dashed to pieces at the 
bottom. When the travellers afterwards sought 
the carcass to cut it up for food, they found it 
torn and mangled in the most horrible man- 
ner. 

It was quite late in the evening before the 
party descended to the ultimate skirts of the 
snow. Here they planted large logs below them 
to prevent their sliding down, and encamped for 
the night. The next day they Succeeded in 
bringing down their baggage to the encampment ; 
then packing all up regularly and loading their 
horses, they once more set out briskly and cheer- 
fully, and in tlie course of the following day suc- 
ceeded in getting to a grassy region. 

Here their Nez Perce guides declared that all 
the difficulties of the mountains were at an end, 



SIGNS OF WHITE MEN. 375 

and their course was plain and simple, and 
needed no further guidance ; they asked leave, 
therefore, to return home. This was readily 
granted, with many thanks and presents for their 
faithful services. They took a long farewell 
smoke with their white friends, after which, they 
mounted their horses and set off, exchanging 
many farewells and kind wishes. 

On the following day, Captain Bonneville 
completed his journey down the mountain, and 
encamped on the borders of Snake River, where 
he found the grass in great abundance and eight 
inches in height. In this neighborhood, he saw 
on the rocky banks of the river several prismoids 
of basaltes, rising to the height of fifty or sixty 
feet. 

Nothing particularly worthy of note occurred 
during several days as the party proceeded up 
along Snake River and across its tributary 
streams. After crossing Gun Creek, they met 
with various signs that white people were in the 
neighborhood, and Captain Bonneville made 
earnest exertions to discover whether they were 
any of his own people, that he might join them. 
He soon ascertained that they had been starved 
out of this tract of country, and had betaken 
themselves to the buffalo region, whither he now 
shaped his course. In proceeding along Snake 
River, he found small hordes of Shoshonies linger- 
ing upon the minor streams, and living upon 
trout and other fish, which they catch in great 
numbers at this season in fish-traps. The 
greater part of the tribe, however, had pene- 



376 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

trated the mountains to hunt the elk, deer, and 
ahsahto or bighorn. 

On the 12th of May, Captain Bonneville 
reached the Portneuf River, in the vicinity of 
which he had left the winter encampment of his 
company on the preceding Christmas day. He 
had then expected to be back by the beginning 
of March, but circumstances had detained him 
upwards of two months beyond the time, and the 
winter encampment must long ere this have been 
broken up. Halting on the banks of the Port- 
neuf, he dispatched scouts a few miles above, to 
visit the old camping ground and search for signals 
of the party, or of their whereabouts, should they 
actually have abandoned the spot. They returned 
without being able to ascertain anything. 

Being now destitute of provisions, the travel- 
lers found it necessary to make a short hunting 
excursion after buffalo. They made caches, 
therefore, in an island in the river, in which they 
deposited all their baggage, and then set out on 
their expedition. They were so fortunate as to 
kill a couple of fine bulls, and cutting up the 
carcasses, determined to husband this stock of 
provisions with the most miserly care, lest they 
should again be obliged to venture into the open 
and dangerous hunting grounds. Returning to 
their island on the 18th of May, they found that 
the wolves had been at the caches, scratched up 
the contents, and scattered them in every direc- 
tion. They now constructed a more secure one, 
in which they deposited their heaviest articles, 
and then descended Snake River again, and en- 



REUNION OF PARTIES. 377 

camped just above the American Falls. Here 
they proceeded to fortify themselves, intending 
to remain here, and give their horses an oppor- 
tunity to recruit their strength with good pastur- 
age, until it should be time to set out for the an- 
nual rendezvous in Bear River Valley. 

On the 1st of June they descried four men on 
the other side of the river, opposite to the camp, 
and, having attracted their attention by a dis- 
charge of rifles, ascertained to their joy that they 
were some of tlieir own people. From these 
men Captain Bonneville learnt that the whole 
party which he had left in the preceding month 
of December, were encamped on Blackfoot River, 
a tributary of Snake River, not very far above 
the Portneuf Thither he proceeded with all 
possible dispatch, and in a little while had the 
pleasure of finding himself once more surrounded 
by his people, who greeted his return among them 
in the heartiest manner ; for his long-protracted 
absence had convinced them that he and his three 
companions had been cut off by some hostile 
tribe. 

The party had suffered much during his ab- 
sence. They had been pinched by famine and 
almost starved, and had been forced to repair to 
the caches at Salmon River. Here they fell in 
with the Blackfeet bands, and considered them- 
selves fortunate in being able to retreat from the 
dangerous neighborhood without sustaining any 
loss. 

Being thus reunited, a general treat from 
Captain Bonneville to his men was a matter of 



378 



BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 



course. Two days, therefore, were given up to 
such feasting and merriment as their means and 
situation afforded. What was wanting in good 
cheer was made up in good-will ; the free trap- 
pers in particular, distinguished themselves on the 
occasion, and the saturnalia was enjoyed with a 
hearty holiday spirit, that smacked of the game 
flavor of the wilderness. 




CHAPTER XXXVII. 



Departure for the rendezvous. — A war party of Blackfeet. — 
A mock bustle. — Sham fii-es al night. — "Warlike precau- 
tions. — Dangers of a night attack. — A panic among 
horses. — Cautious march. — The Beer Springs. — A mock 
carousal. — Skirmishing with buffaloes. — A buffalo bait. — 
Arrival at the rendezvous. — Meeting of various bands. 




'FTER the two days of festive indul- 
gence, Captain Bonneville broke up the 
encampment, and set out with his mot- 
ley crew of hired and free trappers, half-breeds, 
Indians, and squaws, for the main rendezvous in 
Bear River Valley. Directing his course up the 
Blackfoot River, he soon reached the hills among 
which it takes its rise. Here, while on the march, 
he descried from the brow of a hill, a war party 
of about sixty Blackfeet, on the plain immediately 
below him. His situation was perilous ; for the 
greater part of his people were dispersed in vari- 
ous directions. Still, to betray hesitation or fear, 
would be to discover his actual weakness, and to 
invite attack. He assumed, instantly, therefore, 
a belligerent tone ; ordered the squaws to lead 
the horses to a small grove of ashen trees, and 
unload and tie them ; and caused a great bustle 
to be made by his scanty handful ; the leaders 
riding hither and thither, and vociferating with 



380 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

all their might, as if a numerous force were get- 
ting under way for an attack. 

To keep up the deception as to his force, he 
ordered, at night, a number of extra fires to be 
made in his camp, and kept up a vigihint watch. 
His men were all directed to keep themselves 
prepared for instant action. In such cases the 
experienced trapper sleeps in his clothes, with his 
rifle beside him, the shot-belt and powder-flask 
on the stock ; so that, in case of alarm, he can 
lay his hand upon the whole of his equipment at 
once, and start up, completely armed. 

Captain Bonneville was also especially careful 
to secure the horses, and set a vigilant guard 
upon them ; for there lies the great object and 
principal danger of a night attack. The grand 
move of the lurking savage is to cause a panic 
among the horses. In such cases one horse 
frightens another, until all are alarmed, and 
struggle to break loose. In camps where there 
are great numbers of Indians, with their horses, 
a night alarm of the kind is tremendous. The 
running of the horses that have broken loose ; 
the snorting, stamping, and rearing of those 
which remain fast ; the howling of dogs ; the 
yelling of Indians ; the scampering of white 
men, and red men, with their guns ; the over- 
turning of lodges, and trampling of fires by the 
horses ; the flashes of the fires, lighting up forms 
of men and steeds dashing through the gloom, 
altogether make up one of the wildest scenes of 
confusion imaginable. In this way, sometimes, 
all the horses of a camp, amounting to several 
hundred, will be frightened off in a single night. 



A MOCK CAROUSE. 381 

The night passed off without any disturbance ; 
but there was no likelihood that a war party of 
Blackfoet, once on the track of a camp where 
there was a chance for spoils, would fail to hover 
round it. The captain, therefore, continued to 
maintain the most vigilant precautions ; throwing 
out scouts in the advance, and on every rising 
ground. 

In the course of the day he arrived at the 
plain of white clay, already mentioned, sur- 
rounded by the mineral springs, called Beer 
Springs by the trappers.^ Here the men all 
halted to have a regale. In a few moments 
every spring had its jovial knot of hard drinkers, 
with tin cup in hand, indulging in a mock ca- 
rouse ; quaffing, pledging, toasting, bandying 
jokes, singing drinking songs, and uttering peals 
of laughter, until it seemed as if their imagina- 
tions had given potency to the beverage, and 
cheated them into a fit of intoxication. Indeed, 
in the excitement of the moment, they were loud 



1 In a manuscript journal of Mr. Nathaniel G. Wyeth, we 
find the following mention of this watering-place : 

" There is here a soda spring; or, I may say, fifty of them. 
These springs throw out lime, which deposits and forms little 
hillocks of a yellowish colored stone. There is, also, here, a 
warm spring, which throws out water with a jet; which is 
like bilge-water in taste. There are, also, here, peat beds, 
which sometimes take fire, and leave behind a deep, light 
ashes; in which animals sink deep. . . . I ascended a 
mountain, and from it could see that Bear River took a short 
turn round Sheep Kock. There were, in the plain, many 
hundred mounds of yellowish stone, with a crater on the top, 
formed of the deposits of the impregnated water. 



382 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

and extravagant in their commendations of " the 
mountain tap ; " elevating it above every bever- 
age produced from hops or malt. It was a sin- 
gular and fantastic scene ; suited to a region 
where everything is strange and peculiar : — 
These groups of trappers, and hunters, and In- 
dians, with their wild costumes, and wilder coun- 
tenances ; their boisterous gayety, and reckless 
air ; quaffing, and making merry round these 
sparkling fountains ; while beside them lay their 
weapons, ready to be snatched up for instant ser- 
vice. Painters are fond of representing banditti 
at their rude and picturesque carousals ; but here 
were groups, still more rude and picturesque ; 
and it needed but a sudden onset of Blackfeet, 
and a quick transition from a fantastic revel to a 
furious melee, to have rendered this picture of a 
trapper's life complete. 

The beer frolic, however, passed off without 
any untoward circumstance ; and, unlike most 
drinking bouts, left neither headache nor heart- 
ache behind. Captain Bonneville now directed 
his course up along Bear River ; amusing him- 
self, occasionally, with hunting the buffalo, with 
which the country was covered. Sometimes, 
when he saw a huge bull taking his repose on a 
prairie, he would steal along a ravine, until close 
upon him ; then rouse him from his meditations 
with a pebble, and take a shot at him as he 
started up. Such is the quickness with which 
this animal springs upon his legs, that it' is not 
easy to discover the muscular process by which 
it is effected. The horse rises first upon his fore 



BUFFALO BAITING. 383 

legs ; and the domestic cow, upon her hinder 
limbs ; but the buffalo bounds at once from a 
couchant to an erect position, with a celerity that 
baffles the eye. Though from his bulk, and roll- 
ing gait, he does not appear to run with much 
swiftness ; yet, it takes a stanch horse to over- 
take him, when at full speed on level ground ; 
and a buffalo cow is still fleeter in her motion. 

Among the Indians and half-breeds of the 
party, were several admirable horsemen and bold 
hunters ; who amused themselves with a gro- 
tesque kind of buffalo bait. Whenever they 
found a huge bull in the plains, they prepared for 
their teasing and barbarous sport. Surrounding 
him on horseback, they would discharge their 
arrows at him in quick succession, goading him 
to make an attack ; which, with a dexterous 
movement of the horse, they would easily avoid. 
In this way, they hovered round him, feathering 
him with arrows, as he reared and plunged about, 
until he was bristled all over like a porcupine. 
When they perceived in him signs of exhaustion, 
and he could no longer be provoked to make bat- 
tle, they would dismount from their horses, ap- 
proach him in the rear, and seizing him by the 
tail, jerk him from side to side, and drag him 
backwards ; until the frantic animal, gathering 
fresh strength from fury, would break from them, 
and rush, with flashing eyes and a hoarse bellow- 
ing, upon any enemy in sight ; but in a little 
while, his transient excitement at an end, would 
pitch headlong on the ground, and expire. The 
arrows were then plucked forth, the tongue cut 



384 B ONNE VTLLEP S AD VEN T URES. 

out and preserved as a dainty, and the carcass 
left a banquet for the wolves. 

Pursuing his course up Bear River, Captain 
Bonneville arrived, on the 13th of June, at the 
Little Snake Lake ; where he encamped for four 
or five days, that he might examine its shores 
and outlets. The latter, he found extremely 
muddy, and so surrounded by swamps and quag- 
mires, that he was obliged to construct canoes of 
rushes, with which to explore them. The mouths 
of all the streams which fall into this lake from 
the west, are marshy and inconsiderable ; but on 
the east side, there is a beautiful beach, broken, 
occasionally, by high and isolated bluffs, which 
advance upon the lake, and heighten the charac- 
ter of the scenery. The water is very shallow, 
but abounds with trout, and other small fish. 

Having finished his survey of the lake. Cap- 
tain Bonneville proceeded on his journey, until 
on the banks of the Bear River, some distance 
higher up, he came upon the party which he had 
detached a year before, to circumambulate the 
Great Salt Lake, and ascertain its extent, and 
the nature of its shores. They had been en- 
camped here about twenty days ; and were 
greatly rejoiced at meeting once more with their 
comrades, from whom they had so long been sep- 
arated. The first inquiry of Captain Bonneville, 
was about the result of their journey, and the 
information they had procured as to the Great 
Salt Lake ; the object of his intense curiosity 
and ambition. The substance of their report 
will be found in the following chapter. 



CHAPTER XXXVIIL 

Plan of the Salt Lake expedition. — Great sandy deserts. 
— Sufferings from thirst. — Ogden's River. — Trails and 
smoke of lurking savages. — Thefts at night. — A trapper's 
revenge. — Alarms of a guilty conscience. — A murderous 
victor}'. — Californian mountains. — Plains along the Pa- 
cific. — Arrival at Monterey — account of the place and 
neighborhood. — Lower California — its extent. — The pen- 
insula — soil — climate — production. — Its settlement by 
the Jesuits — their sway over the Indians — their expul- 
sion. — Ruins of a Missionary establishment. — Sublime 
scenery. — LTpper California. — Missions — their power and 
policy. — Resources of the country. — Designs of foreign 
nations. 




^T was on the 24th of July, in the pre- 
ceding year (1833), that the brigade of 
forty men set out from the Green River 
Valley, to explore the Great Salt Lake. They 
were to make the complete circuit of it, trapping 
on all the streams which should fall in their way, 
and to keep journals and make charts, calculated 
to impart a knowledge of the lake and the sur- 
rounding country. All the resources of Captain 
Bonneville had been tasked to fit out this favor- 
ite expedition. The country lying to the south- 
west of the mountains, and ranmns down to Cali- 
fornia, was as yet almost unknown ; being out of 
the buffalo range, it was untraversed by the 
trapper, who preferred those parts of the wilder- 

25 



386 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

ness where the roaming herds of that species of 
animal gave him comparatively an abundant and 
luxurious life. Still it was said the deer, the elk, 
and the bighorn were to be found there, so that, 
with a little diligence and economy, there was no 
danger of lacking food. As a precaution, how- 
ever, the party halted on Bear River and hunted 
for a few days, until they had laid in a supply of 
dried buffalo meat and venison ; they then passed 
by the head waters of the Cassie River, and soon 
found themselves launched on an immense sandy 
desert. Southwardly, on their left, they beheld 
the Great Salt Lake, spread out like a sea, but 
they found no stream running into it. A desert 
extended around them, and stretched to the south- 
west, as far as the eye could reach, rivalling the 
deserts of Asia and Africa in sterility. There 
was neither tree, nor herbage, nor spring, nor 
pool, nor running stream, nothing but parched 
wastes of sand, where horse and rider were in 
danger of perishing. 

Their sufferings, at length, became so great 
that they abandoned their intended course, and 
made towards a range of snowy mountains, bright- 
ening in the north, where they hoped to find water. 
After a time, they came upon a small stream 
leading directly towards these mountains. Hav- 
ing quenched their burning thirst, and refresjied 
themselves and their weary horses for a time, 
they kept along this stream, which gradually in- 
creased in size, being fed by numerous brooks. 
After approaching the mountains, it took a sweep 
towards the, southwest, and the travellers still 



NIGHT THEFTS. 387 

kept along it, trapping beaver as they went, on 
the flesh of which they subsisted for the present, 
husbanding their dried meat for future necessi- 
ties. 

The stream on which they had thus fallen is 
called by some, Mary River, but is more gene- 
rally known as Ogden's River, from Mr. Peter 
Ogden, an enterprising and intrepid leader of the 
Hudson's Bay Company, who first explored it. 
The wild and half-desert region through which 
the travellers were passing, is wandered over by 
hordes of Shoshokoes, or Root Diggers, the for- 
lorn branch of the Snake tribe. They are a 
shy people, prone to keep aloof from the stranger. 
The travellers frequently met with their trails, 
and saw the smoke of their fires rising in various 
parts of the vast landscape, so that they knew 
there were great numbers in the neighborhood, 
but scarcely ever were any of them to be met 
with. 

After a time, they began to have vexatious 
proofs that, if the Shoshokoes were quiet by day, 
they were busy at night. The camp was dogged 
by these eavesdroppers ; scarce a morning, but 
various articles were missing, yet nothing could 
be seen of the marauders. What particularly ex- 
asperated the hunters, was to have their traps 
stolen from the streams. One morning, a trap- 
per of a violent and savage character, discovering 
that his traps had been carried off in the night, 
took a horrid oath to kill the first Indian he 
should meet, innocent or guilty. As he was re- 
turning with his comrades to camp, he beheld two 



388 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

unfortunate Diggers, seated on the river bank, 
fishing. Advancing upon them, he levelled his 
rifle, shot one upon the spot, and flung his bleed- 
ing body into the stream. The other Indian fled, 
and was suffered to escape. Such is the indiffer- 
ence with which acts of violence are regarded in 
the wilderness, and such the immunity an armed 
ruffian enjoys beyond the barriers of the laws, 
that the only punishment this desperado met with, 
was a rebuke from the leader of the party. 

The trappers now left the scene of this in- 
famous tragedy, and kept on westward, down the 
course of the river, which wound along with a 
range of mountains on the right hand, and a 
sandy, but somewhat fertile plain, on the left. As 
they proceeded, they beheld columns of smoke 
rising, as before, in various directions, which their 
guilty consciences now converted into alarm sig- 
nals, to arouse the country, and collect the scat- 
tered bands for vengeance. 

After a time, the natives began to make their 
appearance, and sometimes in considerable num- 
bers, but always pacific ; the trappers, however, 
suspected them of deep-laid plans to draw them 
into ambuscades ; to crowd into and get posses- 
sion of their camp, and various other crafty and 
daring conspiracies, which, it is probable, never 
entered into the heads of the poor savages. In 
fact, they are a simple, timid, inoffensive race, 
unpracticed in warfare, and scarce provided with 
any weapons, excepting for the chase. Their 
lives are passed in the great sand plains and 
along the adjacent rivers ; they subsist sometimes 



MASSACRE OF SIIOSHOKOES. 380 

on fish, at other times on roots and the seeds of 
a phmt, called the cat's-tail. They are of the 
same kind of people that Captain Bonneville 
found upon Snake River, and whom he found so 
mild and inoffensive. 

The trappers, however, had persuaded them- 
selves that they were making their way through 
a hostile country, and that implacable foes hung 
round their camp or beset their path, watching 
for an opportunity to surprise them. At length, 
one day they came to the banks of a stream 
emptying into Ogden's River, which they were 
obliged to ford. Here a great number of Sho- 
shokoes were posted on the opposite bank. Per- 
suaded they were there with hostile intent, they 
advanced upon them, levelled their rifles, and 
killed twenty-five of them upon the spot. The 
rest fled to a short distance, then halted and 
turned about, howling and whining like wolves, 
and uttering the most piteous wailings. The 
trappers chased them in eveiy direction ; the 
poor wretches made no defense, but fled with 
terror ; neitlier does it appear from the accounts 
of the boasted victors, that a weapon had been 
wielded or a weapon launched by the Indians 
throughout the affair. We feel perfectly con- 
vinced that the poor savages had no hostile in- 
tention, but had merely gathered together through 
motives of curiosity, as others of their tribe had 
done when Captain Bonneville and his compan- 
ions passed along Snake River. 

The trappers continued down Ogden's River, 
until they ascertained that it lost itself in a great 



390 B ONNE VJLLE' S AD VEN T URES. 

swampy lake, to which there was no apparent 
discharge. They then struck directly westward, 
across the great chain of Californian mountains 
intervening between these interior plains and the 
shores of the Pacific. 

For three and twenty days they were entangled 
among these mountains, the peaks and ridges of 
which are in many places covered with perpetual 
snow. Their passes and defiles present the wild- 
est scenery, partaking of the sublime rather than 
the beautiful, and abounding with frightful preci- 
pices. The sufferings of the travellers among 
these savage mountains were extreme : for a part 
of the time they were nearly starved ; at length, 
they made their way through them, and came 
down upon the plains of New California, a fertile 
region extending along the coast, with magnificent 
forests, verdant savannas, and prairies that look 
like stately parks. Here they found deer and 
other game in abundance, and indemnified them- 
selves for past famine. They now turned to- 
wards the south, and passing numerous small 
bands of natives, posted upon various streams, 
arrived at the Spanish village and post of Mon- 
terey. 

This is a small place, containing about two 
hundred houses, situated in latitude 37° north. 
It has a capacious bay, with indifferent anchor- 
age. The surrounding country is extremely fer- 
tile, especially in the valleys ; the soil is richer, 
the further you penetrate into tlie interior, and 
the climate is described as a perpetual spring. 
Indeed, all California, extending along the Pacific 



PENINSULA OF CALIFORNIA. 391 

Ocean from latitude 19° 30' to 42° north, is rep- 
resented as one of the most fertile and beautiful 
regions in North America. 

Lower California, in length about seven hun- 
dred miles, forms a great peninsula, which 
crosses the tropics and terminates in the torrid 
zone. It is separated from the mainland by the 
Gulf of California, sometimes called the Vermil- 
ion Sea ; into this gulf empties the Colorado of 
the West, the Seeds-ke-dee, or Green River, as 
it is also sometimes called. The peninsula is 
traversed by stern and barren mountains, and has 
many sandy plains, where the only sign of vege- 
tation is the cylindrical cactus growing among 
the clefts of the rocks. Wherever there is water, 
however, and vegetable mould, the ardent nature 
of the climate quickens everything into aston- 
ishing fertility. There are valleys luxuriant with 
the rich and beautiful productions of the tropics. 
There the sugar-cane and indigo plant attain a 
perfection unequalled in any other part of North 
America. There flourish the olive, the fig, the 
date, the orange, the citron, the pomegranate, and 
other fruits belonging to the voluptuous climates 
of the south ; with grapes in abundance, that yield 
a generous wine. In the interior are salt plains ; 
silver mines and scanty veins of gold are said, like- 
wise, to exist ; and pearls of a beautiful water 
are to be fished upon the coast. 

The peninsula of California was settled in 
1698, by the Jesuits, who, certainly, as far as 
the natives were concerned, have generally 
proved the most beneficent of colonists. In the 



392 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

present instance, they gained and maintained a 
footing in the country without the aid of military 
force, but solely by religious influence. They 
formed a treaty, and entered into the most ami- 
cable relations with the natives, then numbering 
from twenty-five to thirty thousand souls, and 
gained a hold upon their affections, and a coni- 
tiol over their minds, that effected a complete 
change in their condition. They built eleven mis- 
sionary establishments in the various valleys of 
the peninsula, which formed rallying places for 
the surrounding savages, where they gathered to- 
gether as sheep into the fold, and surrendered 
themselves and their consciences into the hands 
of these spiritual pastors. Nothing, we are told, 
could exceed the implicit and affectionate devotion 
of the Indian converts to the Jesuit fathers, and 
the Catholic faith was disseminated widely 
through the wilderness. 

The growing power and influence of the Jes- 
uits in the New World, at length excited the 
jealousy of the Spanish government, and they 
were banished from the colonies. The governor, 
who arrived at California to expel them, and to 
take charge of the country, expected to find a 
rich and powerful fraternity, with immense treas- 
ures hoarded in their missions, and an army of 
Indians ready to defend them. On the contrary, 
he beheld a few venerable silver-haired priests 
coming humbly forward to meet him, followed by 
a throng of weeping, but submissive natives. 
The heart of the governor, it is said, was so 
touched by this unexpected sight, that he shed 



DESERTED MISSION-HOUSE. 393 

tears ; but he had to execute his orders. The 
Jesuits were accompanied to the place of their 
embarkation by their simple and affectionate par- 
ishioners, who took leave of them with tears 
and sobs. Many of the latter abandoned their 
hereditary abodes, and wandered off to join their 
southern brethren, so that but a remnant re- 
mained in the peninsula. The Franciscans im- 
mediately succeeded the Jesuits, and subsequently 
the Dominicans ; but the latter managed their 
affairs ill. But two of the missionary establish- 
ments are at present occupied by priests ; the rest 
are all in ruins, excepting one, which remains a 
monument of the former power and prosperity 
of the order. This is a noble edifice, once the 
seat of the chief of the resident Jesuits. It is 
situated in a beautiful valley, about half way 
between the Gulf of California and the broad 
ocean, the peninsula being here about sixty miles 
wide. The edifice is of hewn stone, one story 
high, two hundred and ten feet in front, and 
about fifty-five feet deep. The walls are six feet 
thick, and sixteen feet high, with a vaulted roof 
of stone, about two feet and a half in thickness. 
It is now abandoned and desolate ; the beautiful 
valley is without an inhabitant — not a human 
being resides within thirty miles of the place ! 

In approaching this deserted mission house 
from the south, the traveller passes over the 
mountain of San Juan, supposed to be the high- 
est peak in the Califoniias. From this lofty 
eminence, a vast and magnificent prospect unfolds 
itself; the great Gulf of California, with the 



394 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

dark blue sea beyond, studded with islands ; and 
in another direction, the immense lava plain of 
San Gabriel. The splendor of the climate gives 
an Italian effect to the immense prospect. The 
sky is of a deep blue color, and the sunsets are 
often magnificent beyond description. Such is a 
slight and imperfect sketch of this remarkable 
peninsula. 

Upper California extends from latitude 31° 
10' to 42° on the Pacific, and inland, to the 
great chain of snow-capped mountains which 
divide it from the sand plains of the interior. 
There are about twenty-one missions in this 
province, most of which were established about 
fifty years since, and are generally under the care 
of the Franciscans. These exert a protecting 
sway over about thirty-five thousand Indian con- 
verts, who reside on the lands around the mission 
houses. Each of these houses has fifteen miles 
square of land allotted to it, subdivided into 
small lots, proportioned to the number of Indian 
converts attached to the mission. Some are 
inclosed with high walls ; but in general they 
are open hamlets, composed of rows of huts, 
built of sunburnt bricks ; in some instances 
whitewashed and roofed with tiles. Many of 
them are far in the interior, beyond the reach of 
all military protection, and dependent entirely on 
the good-will of the natives, which never fails 
them. They have made considerable progress in 
teaching the Indians the useful arts. There are 
native tanners, shoemakers, weavers, blacksmiths, 
stonecutters, and other artificers attached to each 



PRODUCE, CATTLE, PORTS. 305 

establishment. Others are taught husbandry, 
and the rearing of cattle and horses ; while the 
females card and spin wool, weave, and perform 
the other duties allotted to their sex in civilized 
life. No social intercourse is allowed between 
the unmarried of the opposite sexes after work- 
ing hours ; and at night they are locked up in 
separate apartments, and the keys delivered to 
the priests. 

The produce of the lands, and all the profits 
arising from sales, are entirely at the disposal of 
the priests ; whatever is not required for the 
support of the missions, goes to augment a fund 
which is under their control. Hides and tallow 
constitute the principal riches of the missions, 
and, indeed, the main commerce of the country. 
Grain might be produced to an unlimited extent 
at the establishments, were there a sufficient 
market for it. Olives and grapes are also reared 
at the missions. 

Horses and horned cattle abound throughout 
all this region ; the former may be purchased at 
from three to five dollars, but they are of an 
mferior breed. Mules, which are here of a large 
size and of valuable qualities, cost from seven to 
ten dollars. 

There are several excellent ports along this 
coast. San Diego, Santa Barbara, Monterey, the 
Bay of San Francisco, and the northern port of 
Bondago ; all afford anchorage for ships of the 
largest class. The port of San Francisco is too 
well known to require much notice ui this place. 
The entrance from the sea is sixty-seven fathoms 



396 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

deep, and within, whole navies might ride with 
perfect safety. Two large rivers, which take 
their rise in mountains two or three hundred 
miles to the east, and run through a country 
unsurpassed for soil and climate, empty them- 
selves into the harbor. The country around 
affords admirable timber for ship-building. In a 
word, this favored port combines advantages 
which not only fit it for a grand naval depot, but 
almost render it capable of being made the dom- 
inant military post of these seas. 

Such is a feeble outline of the Californian 
coast and country, the value of which is more 
and more attracting the attention of naval j^owers. 
The Russians have always a ship of war upon 
this station, and have already encroached upon 
the Californian boundaries, by taking possession 
of the port of Bondago, and fortifying it with 
several guns. Recent surveys have likewise 
been made, both by the Russians and the En- 
glish, and we have little doubt, that, at no very 
distant day, this neglected, and, until recently, 
almost unknown region, will be found to possess 
sources of wealth sufficient to sustain a powerful 
and prosperous empire. Its inhabitants, them- 
selves, are but little aware of its real riches ; 
they have not enterprise sufficient to acquaint 
themselves with a vast interior that lies almost a 
terra incognita ; nor have they the skill and in- 
dustry to cultivate properly the fertile tracts 
along the coast ; nor to prosecute that foreign 
commerce which brings all the resources of a 
country into profitable action. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Gay life at Monterey. — Mexican horsemen. — A bold dra- 
goon. — Use of the lasso. — Vaqueros. — Noosing a bear. — 
Fight between a bull and a bear. — Departure from Mon- 
terey. — Indian horse-stealers. — Outrages committed by 
the travellers. — Indignation of Captain Bonneville. 




HE wandering band of trapjiers were 
well received at Monterey : the inhabi- 
tants were desirous of retaining them 
among them, and offered extravagant wages to 
such as were acquainted with any mechanic art. 
When they went into the country, too, they 
were kindly treated by the priests at the mission ; 
who are always hospitable to strangers, whatever 
may be their rank or religion. They had no 
lack of provisions ; being permitted to kill as 
many as they pleased of the vast herds of cattle 
that graze the country, on condition, merely, of 
rendering the hides to the owners. They at- 
tended bull-fights and horse-races ; forgot all the 
purposes of their expedition ; squandered away, 
freely, the property that did not belong to them ; 
and, in a word, reveled in a perfect fool's para- 
dise. 

TMiat especially delighted them, was the eques- 
trian skill of the Californians. The vast num- 
ber and the cheapness of the horses in this coun- 



398 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

try, makes every one a cavalier. The Mexicans 
and half-breeds of California, spend the greater 
part of their time in the saddle. They are 
fearless riders ; and their daring feats upon un- 
broken colts and wild horses, astonished our trap- 
pers ; though accustomed to the bold riders of 
the prairies. 

A Mexican horseman has much resemblance, 
in many 25oints, to the equestrians of Old Spain ; 
and especially to the vainglorious Caballero of 
Andalusia. A Mexican dragoon, for instance, 
is represented as arrayed in a round blue 
jacket, with red cuffs and collar ; blue vel- 
vet breeches, unbuttoned at the knees to show 
his white stockings ; bottinas of deer-skin ; a 
round-crowned Andalusian hat, and his hair cued. 
On the pommel of his saddle, he carries balanced 
a long musket, with fox-skin round the lock. 
He is cased m a cuirass of double-fold deer-skin, 
and carries a bull's liide shield ; he is forked in 
a Moorish saddle, high before and behind ; his 
feet are thrust into wooden box stirrups, of 
Moorish fashion, and a tremendous pair of iron 
spurs, fastened by chains, jingle at his heels. 
Thus equipped, and suitably mounted, he consid- 
ers himself the glory of California, and the ter- 
ror of the universe. 

The Californian horsemen seldom ride out 
without the lasso ; that is to say, a long coil of 
cord, with a slip noose ; with which they are 
expert, almost to a miracle. The lasso, now al- 
most entirely confined to Spanish America, is 
said to be of great antiquity ; and to have come, 



BULL AND BEAR FIGHT. 399 

originally, from the East. It was used, we are 
told, by a pastoral people of Persian descent ; 
of whom eight thousand accompanied the army 
of Xerxes. By the Spanish Americans, it is 
used for a variety of purposes ; and among 
others, for hauling wood. Without dismounting, 
they cast the noose round a log, and thus drag 
it to their houses. The vaqueros, or Indian 
cattle drivers, have also learnt the use of the 
lasso from the Spaniards ; and employ it to catch 
the half-wild cattle, by throwing it round their 
horns. 

The lasso is also of great use in furnishing the 
public with a ftivorite, though barbarous sport; 
the combat between a bear and a wild bull. For 
this purpose, three or four horsemen sally forth 
to some wood, frequented by bears, and, deposit- 
ing the carcass of a bullock, hide themselves 
in the vicinity. The bears are soon attracted 
by the bait. As soon as one, fit for their purpose, 
makes his appearance, they run out, and with 
the lasso, dexterously noose him by either leg. 
After dragging him at full speed until he is fa- 
tigued, they secure him more effectually ; and 
tying him on the carcass of the bullock, draw 
him in triumph to the scene of action. By this 
time, he is exasperated to such frenzy, that they 
are sometimes obliged to throw cold water on 
him, to moderate his fury ; and dangerous would 
it be, for horse or rider, were he, while in this 
paroxysm, to break his bonds. 

A wild bull, of the fiercest kind, which has 
been caught and exasperated in the same man- 



400 B ON NEVILLE'S AD VENTURES. 

ner, is now produced, and both animals are 
turned loose in the arena of a small amphithea- 
tre. The mortal fight begins instantly ; and 
always, at first, to the disadvantage of Bruin ; 
fatigued, as he is, by his previous rough riding. 
Koused, at length, by the repeated goring of the 
bull, he seizes his muzzle with his sharp claws, 
and clinging to this most sensitive part, causes 
him to bellow with rage and agony. In his 
heat and fury, the bull loUs out his tongue ; this 
is instantly clutched by the bear ; with a des- 
perate effort he overturns his huge antagonist ; 
and then dispatches him without difficulty. 

Beside this diversion, the travellers were like- 
wise regaled with bull-fights, in the genuine 
style of Old Spain ; the Californians being con- 
sidered the best bull-fighters in the Mexican do- 
cs 

minions. 

After a considerable sojourn at Monterey, 
spent in these very edifying, but not very prof- 
itable amusements, the leader of this vagabond 
party set out with his comrades, on liis return 
journey. Instead of retracing their steps through 
the mountams, they passed round their southern 
extremity, and, crossing a range of low hills, 
found themselves in the sandy plains south of 
Ogden's liiver ; in traversing which, they again 
suffered, grievously, for want of water. 

In the course of their journey, they encoun- 
tered a party of Mexicans in pursuit of a gang 
of natives, who had been stealing horses. The 
savages of this part of California are represented 
as extremely poor, and armed only with stone- 



INDIAN HORSE STEALERS. 401 

pointed arrows ; it being the wise policy of the 
Spaniards not to furnish them with fire-arms. 
As they find it diffieult, with their bhuit shafts, 
to kill the wild game of the mountains, they 
occasionally supply themselves with food, by 
entrapping the Spanish horses. Driving them 
stealtliily into fastnesses and ravines, they slaugh- 
ter them without difficulty, and dry their flesh for 
provisions. Some they carry off, to trade with 
distant tribes ; and in this way, the Spanish 
horses pass from hand to hand among the Indi- 
ans, until they even find their way across the 
Rocky Mountains. 

The Mexicans are continually on the alert, to 
intercept these marauders ; but the Indians are 
apt to outwit them, and force them to make long 
and wild expeditions in pursuit of their stolen 
horses. 

Two of the Mexican party just mentioned, 
joined the band of trappers, and proved them- 
selves worthy companions. In the course of 
their journey through the country frequented 
by the poor Root Diggers, there seems to have 
been an emulation between them, which could 
inflict the greatest outrages upon the natives. 
The trappers still considered them in the light 
of dangerous foes ; and the Mexicans, very prob- 
ably, charged them with the sin of horse-stealing ; 
we have no other mode of accounting for the in- 
famous barbarities of which, accorchng to their 
own story, they were guilty ; hunting the poor 
Indians like wild beasts, and killing them without 
mercy. The Mexicans excelled at tliis savage 
26 



402 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

sport ; chasing their unfortunate victims at full 
speed ; noosing them round the neck with their 
lassos, and then di'agging them to death ! 

Such are the scanty detiiils of this most dis- 
graceful expedition ; at least, such are all that 
Captain Bonneville had the patience to collect ; 
for he was so deeply grieved by the failure of his 
plans, and so indignant at the atrocities related to 
him, that he turned, with disgust and horror, from 
the narrators. Had he exerted a little of the 
Lynch law of the wilderness, and hanged those 
dexterous horsemen in their own lassos, it would 
but have been a well-merited and salutary act of 
retributive justice. The failure of this expedition 
was a blow to his pride, and a still gi'eater blow 
to his j)urse. The Great Salt Lake still remained 
unexplored ; at the same time, the means which 
had been furnished so liberally to fit out tliis 
favorite expedition, had all been squandered at 
Monterey ; and the peltries, also, which had been 
collected on the way. He would have but scanty 
returns, therefore, to make this year, to his as- 
sociates in the United States ; and there was 
great danger of their becoming disheartened, and 
abandonmg the enterprise. 




CHAPTER XL. 

Travellers' tales. — Indian lurkers. — Prognostics of Buck- 
eye. — Signs and portents. — The medicine wolf. — An 
alarm. — An ambush. — The captured provant. — Triumph 
of Buckeye. — Arrival of supplies. — Grand carouse. — 
Arrangements for the year. — Mr. Wyeth and his new- 
levied band. 

HE horror and indignation felt by Capt- 
ain Bonneville at the excesses of the 
Californian adventurers, were not par- 
ticipated by his men; on the contrary, the events 
of that expedition were favorite themes in the 
camp. The heroes of Monterey bore the palm 
in all the gossipings among the hunters. Their 
glowing descriptions of Spanish bear-baits and 
bull-fights especially, were listened to with intense 
delight ; and had another expedition to California 
been proposed, the difficulty would have been, to 
restrain a general eagerness to volunteer. 

The captain had not been long at the rendez- 
vous when he perceived, by various signs, that 
Lidians were lurkiuoj in the neis^hborhood. It 
was evident that the Blackfoot band, which he 
had seen when on liis march, had dogged his party, 
and were intent on mischief He endeavored to 
keep his camp on the alert ; but it is as difficult to 
maintain discipline among trappers at a rendez- 
vous, as among sailors when in port. 



404 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

Buckeye, the Delaware Indian, was scandalized 
at this heedlessness of the hunters when an enemy- 
was at hand, and was continually preaching up 
caution. He was a little ^jrone to play the prophet, 
and to deal in signs and portents, which oc- 
casionally excited the merriment of his white com- 
rades. He was a great dreamer, and beheved in 
charms and talismans, or medicines, and could 
foretell the approach of strangers by the howling 
or barking of the small prairie wolf. This animal, 
being driven by the larger wolves from the car- 
casses left on the hunting grounds by the hunters, 
follows the trail of the fresh meat carried to the 
camp. Here the smell of the roast and broiled, 
mingling with every breeze, keeps them hovering 
about the neighborhood, scenting every blast, 
turning up their noses like hungry hounds, and 
testifying their 2>inching hunger by long whining 
howls, and impatient barkings. These are inter- 
preted by the superstitious Indians into warnings 
that strangers are at hand ; and one accidental 
coincidence, like the chance fulfillment of an al- 
manac prediction, is sufficient to cover a thousand 
failures. This little, wliinmg, feast-smelling an- 
imal is, therefore, called among Indians the " med- , 
icine wolf;" and such was one of Buckeye's in- 
fallible oracles. 

One morning early, the soothsaying Delaware 
appeared with a gloomy countenance. His mind 
was full of dismal presentiments, whether from 
mysterious dreams, or the intimations of the medi- 
chie wolf, does not appear. " Danger," he said, 
" was lurking in their path, and there would be 



SURPRISED BY BLACK FEET. 405 

some fighting before sunset." He was bantered 
for his prophecy, which was attributed to his having 
supped too heartily, and been visited by bad 
dreams. In the course of the morning, a party 
of hunters set out in pursuit of buffixlo, taking 
with them a mule, to bring home the meat they 
should procure. They had been some few hours 
absent, when they came clattering at full speed 
into camp, giving the war-cry of Blackfeet ! Black- 
feet ! Every one seized his weapon, and ran to 
learn the cause of the alarm. It appeared that 
the hunters, as they were returning leisurely, lead- 
ing their mule, well laden with prime pieces of 
buffalo meat, passed close by a small stream over- 
hung with trees, about two miles from the camp. 
Suddenly, a party of Blackfeet, who lay in ambush 
among the thickets, sprang up with a fearful yell, 
and discharged a volley at the hunters. The 
latter immediately threw themselves flat on their 
horses, put them to their speed, and never paused 
to look beliind, until they found themselves in 
camp. Fortunately, they had escaped without a 
wound ; but the mule, with all the " provant," had 
fallen into the hands of the enemy. This was a 
loss, as well as an insult, not to be borne. Every 
man sprang to horse, and with rifle in hand, gal- 
loped off to punish the Blackfeet, and rescue the 
buffalo beef. They came too late ; the marauders 
were off, and all that they found of their mule 
were the dents of his hoofs, as he had been con- 
veyed off at a round trot, bearing his savory cargo 
to the hills, to furnish the sctimpering savages 
with a banquet of roast meat at the expense of 
the white men. 



406 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

The party returned to camp, balked of their 
revenge, but still more grievously balked of their 
supper. Buckeye, the Delaware, sat smoking by 
his fire, j^erfectly composed. As the hunters re- 
lated the particulars of the attack, he listened in 
silence, with unruffled countenance, then pointing 
to the west, " The sun has not yet set," said he ; 
" Buckeye did not dream like a fool ! " 

All present now recollected the prediction of 
the Indian at daybreak, and were struck with 
what appeared to be its fulfillment. They called 
to mind, also, a long catalogue of foregone pre- 
sentiments and predictions made at various times 
by the Delaware, and, in their superstitious cre- 
dulity, began to consider liim a veritable seer ; 
without thinking how natural it was to predict 
danger, and how likely to have the prediction 
verified in the present instance, when various signs 
gave evidence of a lurking foe. 

The various bands of Captain Bonneville's 
company had now been assembled for some time 
at the rendezvous ; they had had their fill of 
feasting, and frolickmg, and all the species of 
wild and often uncouth merry-making, which 
invariably take place on these occasions. Their 
horses, as well as themselves, had recovered from 
past famine and fatigue, and were again fit for 
active service; and an impatience began to 
manifest itself among the men once more to take 
the field, and set off on some wandering expe- 
dition. 

At tliis juncture, Mr. Cerre arrived at the 
rendezvous at the head of a supply party, bring- 



ARRIVAL OF SUPPLIES. 407 

ing goods and equipments from the States. This 
active leader, it will be recollected, had embarked 
the year previously in skin-boats on the Bighoi-n, 
freighted with the year's collection of peltries. 
He had met with misfortunes in the course of his 
voyage : one of his frail barks being upset, and 
part of the furs lost or damaged. 

The arrival of the supplies gave the regular 
finish to the annual revel. A grand outbreak of 
wild debauch ensued among the mountaineers ; 
druiking, dancing, swaggering, gambling, quarrell- 
ing, and fighting. Alcohol, which, from its portable 
qualities, containmg the greatest quantity of fiery 
spirit in the smallest compass, is the only liquor 
carried across the mountains, is the inflammatory 
beverage at these carousals, and is dealt out to the 
trappers at four dollars a pint. When inflamed 
by this fiery beverage, they cut all kinds of mad 
pranks and gambols, and sometimes burn all 
their clothes in their drunken bravadoes. A 
camp, recovering from one of these riotous 
revels, presents a serio-comic spectacle ; black 
eyes, broken heads, lacklustre visages. Many of 
the trappers have squandered in one drunken 
frolic the hard-earned wages of a year; some 
have run in debt, and must toil on to pay for 
past pleasure. All are sated with this deep 
draught of pleasure, and eager to commence 
another trapping campaign ; for hardship and 
hard work, spiced with the stimulants of wild 
adventure, and topped off with an annual frantic 
carousal, is the lot of the restless trapper. 

The captain now made his arrangements for 



408 B ONNE VILLE'S AD VENTURES. 

the current year. Cerre and Walker, with a 
number of men who had been to California, were 
to proceed to St. Louis with the packages of furs 
collected during the past year. Another party, 
headed by a leader named Montero, was to 
proceed to the Crow country, traj) upon its 
various streams, and among the Black Hills, and 
thence to proceed to the Arkansas, where he was 
to go into winter quarters. 

The captain marked out for himself a widely 
different course. He intended to make another 
expedition, with twenty-three men, to the lower 
part of the Columbia River, and to proceed to 
the valley of the Multnomah ; after wintering in 
those 23arts, and establisliing a trade with those 
tribes, among whom he had sojourned on his first 
visit, he would return in the spring, cross the 
Rocky Mountains, and join Montero and his 
party in the month of July, at the rendezvous of 
the Arkansas ; where he exjjected to receive his 
annual supplies from the States. 

If the reader will cast his eye upon a map, he 
may form an idea of the contempt for distance 
which a man acquires in this vast wilderness, by 
noticing the extent of country comprised in these 
projected wanderings. Just as the different 
parties were about to set out on the 3d of July, 
on their opposite routes, Captain Bonneville 
received intelligence that Wyeth, the indefati- 
gable leader of the salmon-fishing enterprise, who 
had parted with him about a year previously on 
the banks of the Bighorn, to descend that wild 
river in a bull boat, was near at hand, with a 



EXPEDITION OF WYETH. 409 

new levied band of hunters and trappers, and 
was on his way once more to the banks of the 
Cohimbia. 

As we take much interest in the novel enter- 
prise of this " Eastern man," and are pleased with 
his pushing and persevering spirit; and as his 
movements are characteristic of life in the wil- 
derness, we will, with the reader's permission, 
while Captain Bonneville is breaking up his 
camp and saddling his horses, step back a year 
in time, and a few hundred miles in distance, to 
the bank of the Bighorn, and launch ourselves 
with Wyeth in his bull boat; and though his 
adventurous voyage will take us many hundreds 
of miles further down wild and wandering rivers ; 
yet such is the magic power of the pen, that we 
promise to bring the reader safe back to Bear 
River Valley, by the time the last horse is 
saddled. 





CHAPTER XLI. 

A VOYAGE IN A BULL BOAT. 

]T was about the middle of August (1833) 
that Mr. Nathaniel J. Wyeth, as the 
^^! reader may recollect, launched his bull 
boat at the foot of the rapids of the Bighorn, and 
departed in advance of the parties of Campbell 
and Captain Bonneville. His boat was made of 
three buffalo skins, stretched on a light frame, 
stitched together, and the seams payed with elk 
tallow and ashes. It was eighteen feet long, and 
about five feet six inches wide, sharp at each end, 
with a round bottom, and drew about a foot and 
a half of water ; a depth too great for these 
upper rivers, which abound with shallows and 
sand-bars. The crew consisted of two half-breeds, 
who claimed to be wliite men, though a mixture 
of the French creole and the Shawnee and 
Potawattomie. They claimed, moreover, to be 
thorough mountaineers, and first-rate hunters — 
the common boast of these vagabonds of the 
wilderness. Besides these, there was a Nez 
Perce lad of eighteen years of age, a kind of 
servant of all work, whose great aim, like all 
Indian servants, was to do as little work as possi- 
ble ; there was, moreover, a half-breed boy, of 



THE BOAT AND ITS CREW. 411 

thirteen, named Baptiste, sou of a Hudson's Bay 
trader by a Flathead beauty ; who was travel- 
ling with Wyeth to see the world and complete 
his education. Add to these, Mr. Milton Sublette, 
who went as passenger, and we have the crew of 
the little bull boat complete. 

It certainly was a slight armament with which 
to run the gauntlet through countries swarming 
with hostile hordes, and a slight bark to navigate 
these endless rivers, tossing and pitching down 
rapids, running on snags and bumping on sand- 
bars ; such, however, are the cockle-shells with 
which these hardy rovers of the wilderness will 
attempt the wildest streams ; and it is surprising 
what rough shocks and thumps these boats will 
endure, and what vicissitudes they will live 
through. Their dui-ation, however, is but limited ; 
they require frequently to be hauled out of the 
water and dried, to prevent the hides from be- 
coming water-soaked ; and they eventually rot 
and go to pieces. 

The course of the river was a little to the 
north of east ; it ran about five miles an hour, 
over a gravelly bottom. The banks were gen- 
erally alluvial, and thickly grown with cotton- 
wood trees, intermingled occasionally with ash 
and plum trees. Now and then limestone cliffs 
and promontories advanced upon the river, mak- 
ing picturesque headlands. Beyond the woody 
borders rose ranges of naked hills. 

Milton Sublette was the Pelorus of tin's adven- 
turous bark ; being somewhat experienced in 
this wild kind of navigation. It required all his 



412 B ONNE VILLE' S AD VEN T URES. 

attention and skill, however, to pilot her clear of 
sand-bars and snags, or sunken trees. There was 
often, too, a perplexity of choice, where the river 
branched into various channels, among clusters 
of islands ; and occasionally the voyagers found 
themselves aground and had to turn back. 

It was necessary, also, to keep a wary eye 
upon the land, for they were passing through the 
heart of the Crow country, and were continually 
in reach of any ambush that might be lurking 
on shore. The most formidable foes that they 
saw, however, were three grizzly bears, quietly 
promenading along the bank, who seemed to gaze 
at them with surprise as they glided by. Herds 
of buffalo, also, were moving about, or lying on 
the ground, like cattle in a pasture ; excepting 
such inhabitants as these, a perfect solitude 
reigned over the land. There was no sign of 
human habitation ; for the Crows, as we have 
already shown, are a wandering people, a race of 
hunters and warriors, who live in tents and on 
horseback, and are continually on the move. 

At night they landed, hauled up their boat to 
dry, pitched their tent, and made a rousing fire. 
Then, as it was the first evening of their voyage, 
they indulged in a regale, relishing their buffalo 
beef with inspiring alcohol ; after which, they 
slept soundly, without dreaming of Crows or 
Blackfeet. Early in the morning, they again 
launched their boat and committed themselves to 
the stream. 

In this way, they voyaged for two days with- 
out any material occurrence, excepting a severe 



A CROW CAVALCADE. 413 

thunder storm, which compelled thera to put to 
shore, and wait until it was past. On.>th€. third 
morning, they descried some persons at acli^tjance 
on the river bank. As they were now, by calcu- 
lation, at no great distance from Fort Cass, ,^ 
trading post of the American Fur Company, they 
supposed these might be some of its people. A 
nearer approach showed thera to be Indians. 
Descrying a woman apart from the rest, they 
landed and accosted her. She informed them 
that the main force of the Crow nation, consisting 
of five bands, under their several chiefs, were 
but about two or three miles below, on their way 
up along the river. This was unpleasant tidings, 
but to retreat was impossible, and the river 
afforded no hiding place. They continued for- 
w^ard, therefore, trusting that, as Fort Cass was 
so near at hand, the Crows might refrain from 
any depredations. 

Floating down about two miles further, they 
came in sight of the first band, scattered along 
tJie river bank, all well mounted ; some armed 
with guns, others with bows and arrows, and a 
few with lances. They made a. wildly .pi efcii,r- 
esque appearance, managing their horses Ayiilr ac- 
customed dexterity and grace. Nothing can be 
more spirited than a band of Crow cavaliers. 
They are a fine race of men, averaging six feet 
in height, lithe and active, with hawk's eyes and 
Roman noses. The latter feature is common to 
the Indians on the east side of the Rocky Moun- 
tains; those on the western side have generally 
straight or flat noses. 



414 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

Wyeth would fain have slipped by this caval- 
cade unnoticed ; but the river, at this place, was 
not more than ninety yards across ; he was per- 
ceived, therefore, and hailed by the vagabond 
warriors, and, we, presume, in no very choice lan- 
guage ; for, among their other accomplislmients, 
the Crows are famed for possessing a Billingsgate 
vocabulary of unrivalled opulence, and for being 
by no means sparing of it whenever an occasion 
offers. Indeed, though Indians are generally 
very lofty, rhetorical, and figurative in their lan- 
guage at all great talks, and high ceremonials, 
yet, if trappers and traders may be believed, they 
are the most unsavory vagabonds in their ordi- 
nary colloquies ; they make no hesitation to call 
a spade a spade ; and when they once undertake 
to call hard names, the famous pot and kettle, of 
vituperating memory, are not to be compared 
with them for scurrility of epithet. 

To escape the infliction of any compliments of 
the kind, or the launching, peradventure, of more 
dangerous missiles, Wyeth landed with the besjt 
grace in his power, and approached the chief of 
the band. It was Arapooish, the quondam friend 
of Rose the outlaw, and one whom we have al- 
ready mentioned as being anxious to promote a 
friendly intercourse between his tribe and the 
white men. He was a tall, stout man, of good 
presence, and received the voyagers very gra- 
ciously. His people, too, thronged around them, 
and were officiously attentive after the Crow 
fashion. One took a great fancy to Baptiste, the 
Flathead boy, and a still greater fancy to a ring 



CROW CIVILITIES. 415 

on his finger, which lie transposed to his owu 
with surprising dexterity, and then disappeared 
with a quick step among the crowd.. 

Anotlier was no less pleased with the Nez 
Perce lad, and nothing would do but he must ex- 
change knives with him ; drawing a new knife 
out of the Nez Perce's scabbard, and putting an 
old one in its place. Another stepped up and 
replaced this old knife with one still older, and 
a third helped himself to knife, scabbard, and 
all. It was with much difficulty that ^Yyeth and 
his companions extricated themselves from the 
clutches of these oificious Crows, before they 
were entirely plucked. 

Falling down the river a little further, they 
came in sight of the second band, and sheered to 
the opposite side, with the intention of passing 
them. The Crows were not to be evaded. 
Some pointed their guns at the boat, and threat- 
ened to fire ; others stripped, plunged into the 
stream, and came swimming across. Making a 
virtue of necessity, Wyeth threw a cord to the 
first that came within reach, as if he wished to 
be drawn to the shore. 

In this way he was overhauled by every band, 
and by the time he and his people came out of 
the busy hands of the last, they were eased of 
most of their superfluities. Nothing, in all prob- 
ability, but the proximity of the American trad- 
ing post, kept these land pirates from making a 
good prize of the bull boat and all its contents. 

These bands were in full march, equipped for 
war, and evidently full of mischief. They were, 



416 B ONNE VILLE' S AD VEN T URES. 

in fact, the very bands that overrun the land in 
the autumn of 1833; partly robbed Fitzpatrick 
of his horses and effects ; hunted and harassed 
Captain Bonneville and his people ; broke up 
their trapping campaigns, and, in a word, drove 
them all out of the Crow country. It has been 
suspected that they were set on to these pranks 
by some of the American Fur Company, anxious 
to defeat the plans of their rivals of the Rocky 
Mountain Company : for at this time their com- 
petition was at its height, and the trade of the 
Crow country was a great object of rivalry. 
What makes this the more probable is, that the 
Crows in their depredations seemed by no means 
blood-thirsty, but intent chiefly on robbing the 
parties of their traps and horses, thereby disa- 
bling them from prosecuting their hunting. 

We should observe that this year the Rocky 
Mountain Company were pushing their way up 
the rivers, and establishing rival posts near those 
of the American Company ; and that, at the 
very time of which we are speaking. Captain 
Sublette was ascending the Yellowstone with a 
keel boat, laden with supplies ; so that there was 
every prospect of this eager rivalship being car- 
ried to extremities. 

The last band of Crow warriors had scarce 
disappeared in the cloud of dust they had raised, 
when our voyagers arrived at the mouth of the 
river, and glided into the current of the Yellow- 
stone. Turning down this stream, they made 
for Fort Cass, which is situated on the right 
bank, about three miles below the Bighorn. On 



BLACK FEET INDIANS. 417 

the opposite side, they beheld a party of thirty- 
one savages, which they soon ascertained to be 
Blackfeet. The width of the river enabled them 
to keep at a sufficient distance, and they soon 
landed at Fort Cass. This was a mere fortifi- 
cation against Indians — being a stockade of 
about one hundred and thirty feet square, with 
two bastions at the extreme corners. M'TuUoch, 
an agent of the American Company, was sta- 
tioned there with twenty men ; two boats of fif- 
teen tons burden were lying here ; but at cer- 
tain seasons of the year a steamboat can come 
up to the fort. 

They had scarcely arrived, when the Blackfeet 
warriors made their appearance on the opposite 
bank, displaying two American flags in token of 
amity. They plunged into the river, swam 
across, and were kindly received at the fort. 
They were some of the very men who had been 
engaged the year previously in the battle at 
Pierre's Hole, and a fierce-looking set of fellows 
they were ; tall and hawk-nosed, and very much 
resembling the Crows. They professed to be on 
an amicable errand, to made peace with the 
Crows, and set off in all haste, before night, to 
overtake them. Wyeth predicted that they 
would lose their scalps for he had heard the 
Crows denounce vengeance on them, for having 
murdered two of their warriors who had ven- 
tured among them on the faith of a treaty of 
peace. It is probable, however, that this pa- 
cific eri-and was all a pretence, and that the 
real object of the Blackfeet braves was to hang 
27 



418 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

about the skirts of the Crow bands, steal their 
horses, and take the scalps of stragglers. 

At Fort Cass, Mr. Wyeth disposed of some 
packages of beaver, and a quantity of buffalo 
robes. On the following morning (August 18th), 
he once more launched his bull boat, and pro- 
ceeded down the Yellowstone, which inclined in 
an east-northeast direction. The river had allu- 
vial bottoms, fringed with great quantities of the 
sweet cotton-wood, and interrupted occasionally 
by " bluffs " of sandstone. The current occa- 
sionally brings down fragments of granite and 
porphyry. 

In the course of the day, they saw something 
moving on the bank among the trees, which they 
mistook for game of some kind ; and, being in 
want of provisions, pulled towards shore. They 
discovered, just in time, a party of Blackfeet, 
lurking in the thickets, and sheered, with all 
speed, to the opposite side of the river. 

After a time they came in sight of a gang of 
elk. Wyeth was immediately for pursuing them, 
rifle in hand, but saw evident signs of dissatisfac- 
tion in his half-breed hunters ; who considered 
him as trenching upon their province, and med- 
dling with things quite above his capacity ; for 
these veterans of the wilderness are exceedingly 
pragmatical on points of venery and woodcraft, 
and tenacious of their superiority ; looking down 
with infinite contempt upon all raw beginners. 
The two worthies, therefore, sallied forth them- 
selves, but after a time, returned empty-handed. 
They laid the blame, however, entirely on their 



PRAGMATICAL HUNTERS. 419 

guns ; two miserable old pieces with flint locks, 
which with all their picking and hammering, were 
continually apt to miss fire. These great boasters 
of the wilderness, however, are very often ex- 
ceeding bad shots, and fortunate it is for them 
when they have old flint guns to bear the 
blame. 

The next day they passed where a great herd 
of buffalo were bellowing on a prairie. Again 
the Castor and Pollux of the wilderness sallied 
and again their flint guns were at fault, and 
missed fire, and nothing went off but the buffalo. 

Wyeth now found there was danger of losing 
his dinner if he depended upon his hunters ; he 
took rifle in hand, therefore, and went forth him- 
self. In the course of an hour, he returned laden 
with buffalo meat, to the great mortification of 
the two regular hunters who were annoyed at 
being eclipsed by a greenhorn. 

All hands now set to work to prepare the mid- 
day repast. A fire was made under an immense 
cotton-wood tree, that overshadowed a beautiful 
piece of meadow land ; rich morsels of buffalo 
hump were soon roasting before it ; in a hearty 
and prolonged repast, the two unsuccessful hun- 
ters gradually recovered from their mortification ; 
threatened to discard their old flint guns as soon 
as they should reach the settlements, and boasted 
more than ever of the wonderful shots they had 
made, when they had guns that never missed 
fire. 

Having hauled up their boat to dry in the sun, 
previous to making their repast, the voyagers 



420 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

now set it once more afloat, and proceeded on 
their way. They had constructed a sail out of 
their old tent, which they hoisted whenever the 
wind was favorable, and thus skimmed along 
down the stream. Their voyage was pleasant 
notwithstanding the perils by sea and land, with 
which they were environed. Whenever they 
could, they encamped on islands, for the greater 
security. If on the mainland, and in a danger- 
ous neighborhood, they would shift their camp 
after dark, leaving their fire burning, dropping 
down the river to some distance, and making no 
fire at their second encampment. Sometimes 
they would float all night with the current, one 
keeping watch and steering while the rest slept : 
in such case, they would haul their boat on shore 
at noon of the following day to dry ; for not- 
withstanding every precaution, she was gradually 
getting water-soaked and rotten. 

to o 

There was something pleasingly solemn and 
mysterious in thus floating down these wild rivers 
at night. The purity of the atmosphere in these 
elevated regions gave additional splendor to the 
stars, and heightened the magnificence of the 
firmament. The occasional rush and laving of 
the waters ; the vague sounds from the surround- 
ing wilderness ; the dreary howl, or rather whine 
of wolves from the plains ; the low grunting and 
bellowing of the buffalo, and the shrill neighing 
of the elk, struck the ear with an effect unknown 
in the daytime. 

The two knowing hunters had scarcely recov- 
ered from one mortification, when they were fated 



BALD EAGLES. 421 

to experience another. As the boat was gliding 
swiftly round a low promontory, thinly covered 
with trees, one of them gave the alarm of In- 
dians. The boat was instantly shoved from 
shore, and every one caught up his rifle. 
" Where are they ? " cried Wyeth. 

" There — there ! riding on horseback ! " cried 
one of the hunters. 

" Yes ; with white scarfs on ! " cried the other. 

Wyeth looked in the direction they pointed, 
but descried nothing but two bald eagles, perched 
on a low dry branch, beyond the thickets, and 
seeming, from the rapid motion of tlie boat, to be 
moving swiftly in an opposite direction. The de- 
tection of this blunder in the two veterans, who 
prided themselves on the sureness and quickness 
of their sight, produced a hearty laugh at their 
expense, and put an end to their vauntings. 

The Yellowstone, above the confluence of the 
Bighorn, is a clear stream ; its waters were now 
gradually growing turbid, and assuming the yel- 
low clay color of the Missouri. The current 
was about four miles an hour, with occasional 
rapids, some of them dangerous ; but the voy- 
agers passed them all without accident. The 
banks of the river were in many places precipi- 
tous, with strata of bituminous coal. 

They now entered a region abounding with 
buffalo — that ever-journeying animal, which 
moves in countless droves from point to point of 
the vast wilderness ; traversing plains, pouring 
through the intricate defiles of mountains, swim- 
ming rivers, ever on the move ; guided on its 



422 B ONNE VILLE' S AD VENTURES. 

boundless migrations by some traditionary knowl- 
edge, like the finny tribes of the ocean, which, at 
certain seasons, find their mysterious paths across 
the deep, and revisit the remotest shores. 

These great migratory herds of buffalo have 
their hereditary paths and highways, worn deep 
through the country, and making for the surest 
passes of the mountains, and the most practicable 
fords of the rivers. When once a great column 
is in full career, it goes straight forward, regard- 
less of all obstacles ; those in front being im- 
pelled by the moving mass behind. At such 
times they will break through a camp, trampling 
down everything in their course. 

It was the lot of the voyagers, one night, to 
encamp at one of these buffalo landing-places, 
and exactly on the trail. They had not been 
long asleep, when they were awakened by a great 
bellowing and tramping, and the rush, and splash, 
and snorting of animals in the river. They had 
just time to ascertain that a buffalo array was en- 
tering the river on the opposite side, and making 
towards the landing-place. With all haste they 
moved their boat and shifted their camp, by 
which time the head of the column had reached 
the shore, and came pressing up the bank. 

It was a singular spectacle, by the uncertain 
moonlight, to behold this countless throng making 
their way across the river, blowing, and bellow- 
ing, and splashing. Sometimes they pass in such 
dense and contiiuious column as to form a tem- 
porary dam across tlie river ; the waters of which 
rise and rush over their backs, or between their 



A NOOSED BUFFALO. 423 

squadrons. The roaring and rushing sound of 
of one of these vast herds crossing a river, may 
sometimes in a still night be heard for miles. 

The voyagers now had game in profusion. 
They could kill as many buffalo as they pleased, 
and, occasionally, were wanton in their havoc, 
especially among scattered herds, that came swim- 
ming near the boat. On one occasion, an old 
buffalo bull approached so near that the half- 
breeds must fain try to noose hira, as they would 
a wild horse. The noose was successfully thrown 
around his head, and secured him by the horns, 
and they now promised themselves ample sport. 
The buffalo made a prodigious turmoil in the 
water, bellowing, and blowing, and floundering ; 
and they all floated down the stream together. 
At length he found foothold on a sand-bar, and 
taking to his heels, whirled the boat after him, 
like a whale when harpooned ; so that the hunt- 
ers were obliged to cast off their rope, with 
which strange head-gear the venerable bull made 
off to the prairies. 

On the 24th of August, the bull boat emerged, 
with its adventurous crew, into the broad bosom 
of the mighty Missouri. Here, about six miles 
above the mouth of the Yellowstone, tiie voy- 
agers landed at Fort Union, the distributing post 
of the American Fur Company in the western 
country. It was a stockaded fortress, about two 
hundred and twenty feet square, pleasantly situ- 
ated on a high bank. Here they were hospitably 
entertained by Mr. M'Kenzie, the superinten- 
dent, and remained with him three days, enjoying 



424 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

the unusual luxuries of bread, butter, milk, and 
cheese, for the fort was well supplied with do- 
mestic cattle, though it had no garden. The at- 
mosphere of these elevated regions is said to be 
too dry for the culture of vegetables ; yet the 
voyagers, in coming down the Yellowstone, had 
met with plums, grapes, cherries, and currants, 
and had observed ash and elm trees. Where 
these grow, the climate cannot be incompatible 
with gardening. 

At Fort Union "Wyeth met with a melancholy 
memento of one of his men. This was a pow- 
der-flask, which a clerk had purchased from a 
Blackfoot warrior. It bore the initials of poor 
More, the unfortunate youth murdered the year 
previously, at Jackson's Hole, by the Blackfeet, 
and whose bones had been subsequently found 
by Captain Bonneville. This flask had either 
been passed from hand to hand of the tribe, or, 
perhaps, had been brought to the fort by the very 
savage who slew him. 

As the bull boat was now nearly worn out, 
and altogether unfit for the broader and more 
turbulent stream of the Missouri, it was given 
up, and a canoe of cotton-wood, about twenty 
feet long, fabricated by the Blackfeet, was pur- 
chased to supply its place. In this Wyeth hoisted 
his sail, and bidding adieu to the hospitable su- 
perintendent of Fort Union, turned his prow to 
the east, and set off down the Missouri. 

He had not proceeded many hours, before, in 
the evening, he came to a large keel boat, at an- 
chor. It proved to be the boat of Captain Wil- 



FLOATING WITH THE CURRENT. 425 

liam Sublette, freighted with munitions for carry- 
ing on a powerful opposition to the American 
Fur Company. The voyagers went on board, 
where they were treated with the hearty hospi- 
tality of the wilderness, and passed a social even- 
ing, talking over past scenes and adventures, 
and especially the memorable fight at Pierre's 
Hole. 

Here Milton Sublette determined to give up 
further voyaging in the canoe, and remain with 
his brother ; accordingly, in the morning, the 
fellow-voyagers took kind leave of each other, 
and Wyeth continued on his course. There was 
now no one on board of his boat that had ever 
voyaged on the Missouri ; it was, however, all 
plain sailing down the stream, without any 
chance of missing the way. 

All day the voyagers pulled gently along, and 
landed in the evening and supped ; then re- 
embarking, they suffered the canoe to float down 
with the current, taking turns to watch and 
sleep. The night was calm and serene ; the elk 
kept up a continual whinnying or squealing, 
being the commencement of the season when they 
are in heat. In the midst of the night, the canoe 
struck on a sand-bar, and all hands were aroused 
by the rush and roar of the wild waters, which 
broke aroimd her. They were all obliged to 
jump overboard, and work hard to get her off, 
which was accomplished with much difficulty. 

In the course of the following day they saw 
three grizzly bears at different times along the 
bank. The last one was on a point of land, and 



426 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

was evidently making for the river, to swim 
across. The two half-breed hunters were now 
eager to repeat the maneuver of the noose ; 
promising to entrap Bruin, and have rare sport 
in strangling and drowning him. Their only fear 
was, that he might take fright and return to land 
before they could get between him and the shore. 
Holding back, therefore, until he was fairly com- 
mitted in the centre of the stream, they then 
pulled forward with might and main, so as to cut 
off his retreat, and take him in the rear. One 
of the worthies stationed himself in the bow, 
with the cord and slip-noose, the other, with the 
Nez Perce, managed the paddles. There was 
nothing further from the thoughts of honest Bruin, 
however, than to beat a retreat. Just as the 
canoe was drawing near, he turned suddenly 
round and made for it, with a horrible snarl, and 
a tremendous show of teeth. The affrighted 
hunter called to iiis comrades to paddle off. 
Scarce had they turned the boat, when the bear 
laid his enormous claws on the gunwale, and 
attempted to get on board. The canoe was 
nearly overturned, and a deluge of water came 
pouring over the gunwale. All was clamor, 
terror, and confusion. Every one bawled out — 
the bear roared and snarled — one caught up a 
gun ; but water had rendered it useless. Others 
handled their paddles more effectually, and beat- 
ing old Bruin about the head and claws, obliged 
him to relinquish his hold. They now plied their 
paddles with might and main, the bear made the 
best of his way to shore, and so ended the second 



A PERILOUS SITUATION. 427 

exploit of the noose — the hunters determining to 
have no more naval contests with grizzly bears. 

The voyagers were now out of the range of 
Crows and Blackfeet ; but they were approaching 
the country of the Rees, or Arickaras ; a tribe 
no less dangerous, and who were, generally, 
hostile to small parties. 

In passing through their country, Wyeth laid 
by all day, and drifted quietly down the river at 
night. In this way he passed on, until he sup- 
posed himself safely through the region of danger, 
when he resumed his voyaging in the open day. 
On the 3d of September he had landed, at mid- 
day, to dine ; and while some were making a lire, 
one of the hunters mounted a high bank to look 
out for game. He had scarce glanced his eye 
round, when he perceived horses grazing on the 
opposite side of the river. Crouching down, he 
slunk back to the camp, and reported what he 
had seen. On further reconnoitring, the voyagers 
counted twenty-one lodges ; and, from the num- 
ber of horses, computed that there must be nearly 
a hundred Indians encamped there. They now 
drew their boat, with all speed and caution, into a 
thicket of water willows, and remained closely 
concealed all day. As soon as the night closed 
in they reembarked. The moon would rise 
early ; so that they had but about two liours of 
darkness to get past the camp. The night, 
however, was cloudy, with a blustering wind. 
Silently, and with muffled oars, they glided down 
the river, keeping close under the shore opposite 
to the camp, watching its various lodges and fires, 



428 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

and the dark forms passing to and fro between 
them. Suddenly, on turning a point of land, 
they found themselves close upon a camp on their 
own side of the river. It appeared that not 
more than one half of the band had crossed. 
They were within a few yards of the shore ; they 
saw distinctly the savages — some standing, some 
lying round the fire. Horses were grazing around. 
Some lodges were set up ; others had been sent 
across the river. The red glare of the fires upon 
these wild groups and harsh faces, contrasted with 
with the surrounding darkness, had a startling 
effect, as the voyagers suddenly came upon the 
scene. The dogs of the camp perceived them, 
and barked ; but the Indians, fortunately, took no 
heed of their clamor. Wyeth instantly sheered 
his boat out into the stream ; when, unluckily, it 
struck upon a sand-bar, and stuck fast. It was 
a perilous and trying situation ; for he was fixed 
between the two camps, and within rifle range of 
both. All hands jumped out into the water, and 
tried to get the boat off; but as no one dared to 
give the word, they could not pull together, and 
their labor was in vain. In this way they 
labored for a long time ; until Wyeth thought of 
giving a signal for a general heave by lifting his 
hat. The expedient succeeded. They launched 
their canoe again into deep water, and getting in, 
bad the delight of seeing the camp fires of the 
savages soon fading in the distance. 

They continued under way the greater part of 
the night, until far beyond all danger from this 
band, when they pulled to shore and encamped. 



AFOUL OF A SNAG. 429 

The following day was windy, and they came 
near upsetting their boat in carrying sail. To- 
wards evening, the wind subsided and a beautiful 
calm night succeeded. They floated along with 
the current throughout the night, taking turns to 
watch and steer. The deep stillness of the night 
was occasionally interrupted by the neighing of 
the elk, the hoarse lowing of the buffalo, the 
hooting of large owls, and the screeching of the 
small ones, now and then the splash of a beaver, 
or the gong-like sound of the swan. 

Part of their voyage was extremely tempestu- 
ous, with high winds, tremendous thunder, and 
soaking rain ; and they were repeatedly in ex- 
treme danger from drift-wood and sunken trees. 
On one occasion, having continued to float at 
night, after the moon was down, they ran under 
a great snag, or sunken tree, with dry branches 
above tlie water. These caught the mast, while 
the boat swung round, broadside to the stream, 
and began to fill with water. Nothing saved her 
from total wreck but cutting away the mast. 
She then drove down the stream, but left one of 
the unlucky half-breeds clinging to the snag, like 
a monkey to a pole. It was necessary to run in 
shore, toil up laboriously along the eddies, and 
to attain some distance above the snag, when they 
launched forth again into the stream, and floated 
down with it to his rescue. 

We forbear to detail all the circumstances and 
adventures of upwards of a month's voyage, 
down the windings and doublings of this vast 
river ; in the course of which they stopped 



430 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

occasionally at a post of one of the rival fur 
companies, or at a government agency for an 
Indian tribe. Neither shall we dwell upon the 
changes of climate and productions, as the voy- 
agers swept down from north to south, across sev- 
eral degrees of latitude, arriving at the regions 
of oaks and sycamores ; of mulberry and bass- 
wood trees ; of paroquets and wild turkeys. 
This is one of the characteristics of the middle 
and lower part of the Missouri ; but still more 
so of the Mississippi, whose rapid current trav- 
erses a succession of latitudes, so as in a few days 
to float the voyager almost from the frozen 
regions to the tropica. 

The voyage of Wyeth shows the regular unob- 
structed flow of the rivers on the east side of 
the Rocky Mountains, in contrast to those of the 
western side where rocks and rapids continually 
menace and obstruct the voyager. We find him 
in a frail bark of skins, launching himself in a 
stream at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and 
floating down from river to river, as they empty 
themselves into each other; and so he might 
have kept on upwards of two thousand miles, 
until his little bark should drift into the ocean. 
At present, we shall stop with him at Canton- 
ment Leavenworth, the frontier post of the 
United States, where he arrived on the 27th of 
September. 

Here, his first care was to have his Nez Perce 
Indian, and his half-breed boy, Baptiste, vaccin- 
ated. As they approached the fort, they were 
hailed by the sentinel. The sight of a soldier in 



THE " WHITE SQUAWS." 431 

full array, with what appeared to be a long knife 
glittering on the end of his musket, struck Bap- 
tiste with such affright, that he took to his heels, 
bawling for mercy at the top of his voice. The 
Nez Perce would have followed him, had not 
Wyeth assured him of his safety. When they un- 
derwent the operation of the lancet, the doctor's 
wife and another lady were present — both beauti- 
ful women. They were the first white women 
that they had seen, and they could not keep their 
eyes off of them. On returning to the boat, 
they recounted to their companions all that they 
had observed at the fort ; but were especially elo- 
quent about the white squaws, who, they said, 
were white as snow, and more beautiful than any 
human being they had ever beheld. 

We shall not accompany the captain any fur- 
ther in his voyage ; but will simply state, that 
he made his way to Boston, where he succeeded 
in orijanizing an association under the name of 
" The Columbia River P^ishing and Trading Com- 
pany," for his original objects of a salmon fishery 
and a trade in furs. A brig, the May Dacres, 
had been dispatched for the Columbia with sup- 
plies ; and he was now on his way to the same 
point, at the head of sixty men, whom he had 
enlisted at St. Louis ; some of whom were ex- 
perienced hunters, and all more habituated to the 
life of the wilderness than his first band of " down- 
easters." 

We will now return to Captain Bonneville and 
his party, whom we left, making up their packs 
and saddling their horses, in Bear River Valley. 




CHAPTER XLH. 

Departure of Captain Bonneville for the Columbia. — Ad- 
vance of Wyeth. — Efforts to keep the lead. — Hudson's 
Bay party. — A junketing. — A delectable beverage. — 
Honey and alcohol. — High carousing. — The Canadian 
bon vivant. — A cache. — A rapid move. — Wyeth and his 
plans. — His travelling companions. — Buffalo hunting. — 
More conviviality. — An interruption. 

was the 3cl of July that Captain 
Bonneville set out on his second visit 
to the banks of the Columbia, at the 
head of twenty three men. He travelled leis- 
urely, to keep his horses fresh, until, on the 10th 
of July, a scout brought word that Wyeth, with 
his band, was but fifty miles in the rear, and 
pushing forward with all speed. Tliis caused 
some bustle in the camp ; for it was important to 
get first to the buffalo ground to secure j^rovisions 
for the journey. As the horses were too heavily 
laden to travel ffist, a, cache was digged as 
promptly as possible, to receive all superfluous 
baggage. Just as it was finished, a sprmg burst 
out of the earth at the bottom. Another cache 
was therefore digged, about two miles further on, 
when, as they were about to bury the effects, a 
line of horsemen, with pack-horses, were seen 
streaking over the plain, and encamped close by. 



A JUNKETING. 433 

It proved to be a small band in the service of 
the Hudson's Bay Company, under the command 
of a veteran Canadian ; one of those petty 
leaders, who, with a small party of men, and a 
small supply of goods, are employed to follow 
up a band of Indians from one hunting ground 
to another, and buy up their peltries. 

Having received numerous civilities from the 
Hudson's Bay Company, the captain sent an in- 
vitation to the officers of the party to an evening 
regale, and set to work to make jovial prepara- 
tions. As the night air in these elevated regions 
is apt to be cold, a blazing fire was soon made, 
that would have done credit to a Christmas din- 
ner instead of a midsummer banquet. The 
parties met in high good-fellowship. There was 
abundance of such hunters' fare as the neighbor- 
hood furnished ; and it was all discussed with 
mountain appetites. They talked over all the 
events of their late campaigns ; but the Canadian 
veteran had been unlucky in some of his tran- 
sactions ; and his brow began to grow cloudy. 
Captain Bonneville remarked his rising spleen, 
and regretted that he had no juice of the grape 
to keep it down. 

A man's wit, however, is quick and inventive 
in the wilderness ; a thought suggested itself to 
the captain, how he might brew a delectable bev- 
erage. Among his stores was a keg of honey but 
half exhausted. This he filled up with alcohol, 
and stirred the fiery and mellifluous ingredients 
together. The glorious result may readily be 
imagined ; a happy compound, of strength and 

28 



434 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

sweetness, enough to soothe the most ruffled tem- 
per, and unsettle the most solid understanding. 

The beverage worked to a charm ; the can 
circulated merrily ; the first deep draught washed 
out every care from the mind of the veteran ; the 
second elevated his spirit to the clouds. He 
was, in fact, a boon companion, as all veteran 
Canadian traders are apt to be. He now be- 
came glorious ; talked over all his exploits, his 
huntings, his fightings with Indian braves, his 
loves with Indian beauties ; sang snatches of old 
French ditties and Canadian boat songs ; drank 
deeper and deeper, sang louder and louder, until, 
having reached a climax of drunken gayety, he 
gradually declined, and at length fell fast asleep 
upon the ground. After a long nap, he again 
raised his head, imbibed another potation of the 
" sweet and strong," flashed up with another 
slight blaze of French gayety, and again fell 
asleep. 

The morning found him still upon the field of 
action, but in sad and sorrowful condition ; suf- 
fering the penalties of past pleasures, and calling 
to mmd the captain's dulcet compound, with 
many a retch and spasm. It seemed as if the 
honey and alcohol, which had passed so glibly 
and smoothly over his tongue, were at war within 
his stomach ; and that he had a swarm of bees 
within his head. In short, so helpless and woe- 
begone was his plight, that his party proceeded on 
their march without him — the captain promising 
to bring him on in safety, in the after part of the 
day. 



J 



WYETH AND EIS PLANS. 435 

As soon as this party had moved off, Captain 
Bonneville's men proceeded to construct and fill 
their cache ; and just as it was completed the 
party of Wyeth was descried at a distance. In 
a moment all was activity to take the road. 
The horses were prepared and mounted ; and 
being lightened of a great part of their burdens, 
were able to move with celerity. As to the 
worthy convive of the preceding evening, he was 
carefully gathered up from the hunter's couch on 
which he lay, repentant and supine, and, being 
packed upon one of the horses, was hurried 
forward with the convoy, groaning and ejaculat- 
ing at every jolt. 

In the course of the day, Wyeth, being lightly 
mounted, rode ahead of his party, and ovei-took 
Captain Bonneville. Their meeting was friendly 
and courteous ; and they discussed, sociably, their 
respective fortunes since they separated on the 
banks of the Bighorn. Wyeth announced his 
intention of establishing a small trading post at 
the mouth of the Portneuf, and leaving a few 
men there, with a quantity of goods, to trade 
with the neiojhborinoj Indians. He was com- 
pelled, in fact, to this measure, in consequence of 
the refusal of the Rocky Mountain Fur Com- 
pany to take a supply of goods, which he had 
brought out for them according to contract, and 
which he had no other mode of disposing of. 
He further informed Captain Bonneville that 
the competition between the Rocky Mountain 
and American Fur Companies, which had led to 
such nefarious stratagems, and deadly feuds, was 



43 6 B ONNE VILLE' S AD VEN T URES. 

at an end ; they having divided the country be- 
tween them ; allotting boundaries, within which 
each was to trade and hunt, so as not to interfere 
with the other. 

In company with Wyeth were travelling two 
men of science — Mr. Nuttall, the botanist ; the 
same who ascended the IVIissouri, at the time of 
the expedition to Astoria ; and Mr. Townshend, 
an ornithologist. From these gentlemen we may 
look forward to important information concerning 
these interestmg regions. There were three 
religious missionaries, also, bound to the shores 
of the Columbia, to spread the light of the Gos- 
pel in that fair wilderness. 

After riding for some time together, in friendly 
conversation, Wyeth returned to his party, and 
Captain Bonneville continued to press forward, 
and to gain ground. At night, he sent off the 
sadly sober, and moralizing cliief of the Hudson's 
Bay Company, under a proper escort, to rejoin 
his people, his route branching off in a different 
direction. The latter took a cordial leave of his 
host, hoping, on some future occasion, to repay 
his hospitality in kind. 

In the morning the captain was early on the 
march, throwing scouts out far ahead, to scour 
hill and dale, in search of buffalo. He had con- 
fidently expected to find game, in abundance, on 
the head waters of the Portneuf ; but on reaching 
that region, not a track was to be seen. 

At length one of the scouts, who had made a 
wide sweep away to the head waters of the Black- 
foot River, discovered gieat herds quietly grazing 



BUFFALO HUNTING. 437 

in the adjacent meadows. He set out on his re- 
turn, to report his discoveries ; but night over- 
taking him, he was kindly and hos^jitably enter- 
tained at the camp of Wyeth. As soon as day 
dawned, he hastened to his own camp with the 
welcome intelligence ; and about ten o' clock of 
the same morning, Captain Bonneville's party 
were in the midst of the game. 

The packs were scarcely off the backs of the 
mules, when the runners, mounted on the fleetest 
horses, were full tilt after the buffalo. Others of 
the men were busied erecting scaffolds, and other 
contrivances, for jerking or drying meat ; others 
were lighting great fires for the same purpose ; 
soon the hunters began to make their appearance, 
brino^inor in the choicest morsels of buffalo meat : 
these were placed upon the scaffolds, and the 
whole camp presented a scene of singular hurry 
and activity. At daylight the next morning, the 
runners again took the field, with similar success ; 
and, after an interval of repose made their third 
and last chase, about twelve o' clock, for by this 
time Wyeth's party was in sight. The game being 
now driven into a valley, at some distance, Wyeth 
was obliged to fix his camp there ; but he came in 
the evening to pay Captain Bonneville a visit. 
He was accompanied by Captain Stewart, the 
amateur traveller, who had not yet sated his ap- 
petite for the adventurous life of the wilderness. 
With him, also, was a Mr. M' Kay, a half-breed, 
son of the unfortunate adventurer of the same 
name, who came out in the first maritime ex- 
pedition to Astoria, and was blown up m the Ton- 



438 B ONNE VILLE'S AD VENTURES. 

quill. His son had grown up in the employ of 
the British fur companies ; and was a prime 
hunter, and a daring j)artisan. He held, more- 
over, a farm, in the valley of the Wallamut. 

The three visitors, when they reached Captain 
Bonneville's camp, were surprised to find no one 
in it but himself and three men ; his party being 
dispersed in all directions, to make the most of 
their present chance for hunting. They remon- 
strated with him on the imprudence of remaining 
with so trifling a guard, in a region so full of 
danger. Captain Bonneville vindicated the policy 
of his conduct. He never hesitated to send out 
all his hunters when any important object was to 
be attained ; and experience had taught him that 
he was most secure, when his forces were thus 
distributed over the surrounding country. He 
then was sure that no enemy could approach from 
any direction without being discovered by liis 
hunters ; who have a quick e^^e for detecting the 
slightest signs of the jDroximity of Inchans ; and 
who would instantly convey intelligence to the 
camp. 

The captain now set to work with his men to 
prepare a suitable entertainment for his guests. 
It was a time of plenty in the camp ; of prime 
hunters' dainties ; of buffalo humps, and buffalo 
tongues ; and roasted ribs, and broiled marrow- 
bones : all these were cooked in hunters' style ; 
served up with a profusion known only on a 
plentiful hunting ground, and discussed with an 
appetite that would astonish the puny gourmands 
of the cities. But above all, and to give a bac- 



AN INTERRUPTION. 439 

clianalian grace to this truly masculine repast, the 
captain produced his mellifluous keg of home- 
brewed nectar, which had been so potent over the 
senses of the veteran of Hudson's Bay. Pot- 
ations, pottle deep, again went round: never did 
beverage excite greater glee, or meet with more 
rapturous commendation. The parties were fast 
advancing to that liappy state, which would have 
insured ample cause for the next day's repentance, 
and the bees were already beginning to buzz 
about their ears, when a messenger came spurring 
to the camp with intelligence that Wyeth's people 
had got entangled in one of those deep and fright- 
ful ravines, piled with immense fragments of vol- 
canic rock, which gash the whole country about 
the head waters of the Blackfoot River. The 
revel was instantly at an end ; the keg of sweet 
and potent home-brewed was deserted ; and the 
guests departed with all speed, to aid in extricat- 
ing their companions from the volcanic ravine. 





CHAPTER XLIII. 

A rapid march. — A cloud of dust. — "Wild horsemen. — " High 
jinks." — Horse-racing and rifle shooting. — The game of 
" Hand." — The fishing season. — Mode of fishing. — Table 
lands. — Salmon fishers. — The captain's visit to an Indian 
lodge. — The Indian girl. — The pocket mirror. — Supper. 
— Troubles of an evil conscience. 

P and away ! " is the first thought at day- 
light of the Indian trader, when a rival 
is at hand and distance is to be gained. 
Early in the morning, Captain Bonneville ordered 
the half-dried meat to be packed upon the horses, 
and leaving Wyeth and his party to hunt the 
scattered buffalo, pushed off rapidly to the east, 
to regain the plain of the Portneuf. His march 
was rugged and dangerous ; through volcanic hills, 
broken into cliffs and precipices, and seamed with 
tremendous chasms, where the rocks rose Hke 
walls. 

On the second day, however, he encamped once 
more in the plain, and as it was still earl}^, some 
of the men strolled out to the neighboring hills. 
In casting their eyes round the country, they per- 
ceived a great cloud of dust rising in the south, 
and evidently approaching. Hastening back to 
the camp, they gave the alarm. Preparations 
were instantly made to receive an enemy; while 
some of the men, throwing themselves upon the 



" HIGH JINKSr 441 

*' ruTiuing horses " kept for hunting, galloped off 
to reconnoitre. In a little while, they made signals 
from a distance that all was friendly. By this 
time, the cloud of dust had swept on as if hurried 
along by a blast, and a band of wild horsemen 
came dashing at full leap mto the camp, yelling 
and whooping like so many maniacs. Their 
dresses, their accoutrements, their mode of riding, 
and their uncouth clamor, made them seem a 
party of savages arrayed for war ; but they proved 
to be principally half-breeds, and white men grown 
savage in the wilderness, who were employed as 
trappers and hunters in the service of the Hudson's 
Bay Company. 

Here was again " high jmks " in the camp. 
Captain Bonneville's men hailed these wild 
scamperers as congenial spirits, or, rather, as the 
very game birds of their class. They entertained 
them with the hospitality of mountaineers, feast- 
ing them at every fire. At first, there were 
mutual details of adventures and exploits, and 
broad joking mingled with peals of laughter. 
Then came on boasting of the comparative merits 
of horses and rifles, which soon engrossed every 
tongue. This naturally led to racing and shoot- 
ing at a mark ; one trial of speed and skill suc- 
ceeded another, shouts and acclamations rose from 
the victorious parties, fierce altercations suc- 
ceeded, and a general melde was about to take 
place, when suddenly the attention of the quar- 
rellers was arrested by a strange kind of Indian 
chant or chorus, that seemed to operate upon 
them as a charm. Their fury was at an end ; a 



442 BONNE VILLUS ADVENTURES. 

tacit reconciliation succeeded, and the ideas of 
the whole mongrel crowd — whites, half-breeds, 
and squaws — were turned in a new direction. 
They all formed into groups, and taking their 
places at the several fires, prepared for one of 
the most exciting amusements of the Nez Per- 
ces, and the other tribes of the Far "West. 

The choral chant, in foct, which had thus acted 
as a charm, was a kind of wild accompaniment 
to the favorite Indian game of " Hand." This 
is played by two parties drawn out in opposite 
platoons before a blazing fire. It is in some 
respects like the old game of passing the ring or 
the button, and detecting the hand which holds it. 
In the present game, the object hidden, or the 
cache as it is called by the trappers, is a small 
splint of wood, or other diminutive article, that 
may be concealed in the closed hand. This is 
passed backwards and forwards among the party 
" in hand," while the party " out of hand " guess 
where it is concealed. To heighten the excite- 
ment and confuse the guessers, a number of dry 
poles are laid before each platoon, upon which 
the members of the party " in hand " beat furi- 
ously with short staves, keeping time to the 
choral chant already mentioned, which waxes fast 
and furious as the game proceeds. As large bets 
are staked upon the game, the excitement is pro- 
digious. Each party in turn bursts out in full 
chorus, beating, and yelling, and working them- 
selves up into such a heat, that the perspiration 
rolls down their naked shoulders, even in the 
cold of a winter night. The bets are doubled 



THE FISHING SEAS OX. 443 

and trebled as the game advances, the mental ex- 
citement increases almost to madness, and all the 
worldly effects of the gamblers are often hazarded 
upon the position of a straw. 

These gambling games were kept up through- 
out the night ; every jQre glared upon the group 
that looked like a crew of maniacs at their fran- 
tic orgies ; and the scene would have been kept 
up throughout the succeeding day, had not Cap- 
tain Bonneville interposed his authority, and at 
the usual hour issued his marching orders. 

Proceeding down the course of Snake River, 
the hunters regularly returned to camp in the 
evening laden with wild geese, which were yet 
scarcely able to fly, and were easily caught in 
great numbers. It was now the season of the 
annual fish-feast, with which the Indians in these 
parts celebrate the first appearance of the salmon 
in this river. These fish are taken in sreat 
numbers at the numerous fills of about four feet 
pitch. The Indians flank the shallow water just 
below, and spear them as they attempt to pass. 
Li wide parts of the river, also, they place a sort 
of chevaux-de-frize, or fence, of poles interwoven 
with withes and forming an angle in the middle 
of the current, where a small opening is left for 
the salmon to pass. Around this opening the 
Indians station themselves on small rafts, and ply 
their spears with great success. 

The table lands so common in this region have 
a sandy soil, inconsiderable in depth, and covered 
with sage, or more properly speaking wormwood. 
Below this is a level stratum of rock, riven oc- 



444 BONXEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

casionally by frightful chasms. The whole plam 
rises as it approaches the river, and terminates 
with high and broken cliffs, difficult to pass, and 
in many places so precipituous that it is impos- 
sible, for days together, to get down to the 
water's edge to give drink to the horses. This 
obliges the traveller occasionally to abandon the 
vicinity of the river, and make a wide sweep into 
the interior. 

It was now far in the month of July, and the 
party suffered extremely from sultry weather and 
dusty travelling. The flies and gnats, too, were 
extremely troublesome to the horses ; especially 
when keeping along the edge of the river where 
it runs between low sand-banks. Whene.ver the 
travellers encamped in the afternoon, the horses 
retired to the gravelly shores and remained there, 
without attempting to feed, until the cool of the 
evening. As to the travellers, they plunged into 
the clear and cool current, to wash away the dust 
of the road, and refresh themselves after the 
heat of the day. The nights were always cool 
and pleasant. 

At one place where they encamped for some 
time, the river was nearly five hundred yards 
wide, and studded with grassy islands, adorned 
with groves of willow and cotton-wood. Here 
the Indians were assembled in great numbers, 
and had barricaded the channels between the isl- 
ands, to enable them to spear the salmon with 
greater facility. They were a timid race, and 
seemed unaccustomed to the sight of white men. 
Entermg one of the huts, Captain Bonneville 



THE INDIAN GIRL. 445 

found the inhabitants just proceeding to cook a 
fine salmon. It is put into a pot filled with cold 
water, and hung over the fire. The moment 
the water begins to boil, the fish is considered 
cooked. 

Taking his seat unceremoniously, and lighting 
his pipe, the captain awaited the cooking of the 
fish, intending to invite himself to the repast. 
The owner of the hut seemed to take his intru- 
sion in good part. While conversing with him, 
the captain felt something move behind him, and 
turning rotind and removinof a few skins and old 
buffalo robes, discovered a young girl, about four- 
teen years of age, crouched beneath, who di- 
rected her large black eyes full in his face, and 
continued to gaze in mute surprise and terror. 
The captain endeavored to dispel her fears, and 
drawing a bright ribbon from his pocket, at- 
tempted repeatedly to tie it round her neck. 
She jerked back at each attempt, uttering a 
sound very much like a snarl ; nor could all the 
blandishments of the captain, albeit a pleasant, 
good-looking, and somewhat gallant man, suc- 
ceed in conquering the shyness of the savage 
little beauty. His attentions were now turned 
to the parents, whom he presented with an awl 
and a little tobacco, and having thus secured their 
good will, continued to smoke his pipe and watch 
the salmon. While thus seated near the thresh- 
hold, an urchin of the family approached the 
door, but catching a sight of the strange guest, 
ran off screaming with terror, and ensconced 
himself behind the long straw at the back of the 
hut. 



446 B ONNE VILL ES AD VEN TURKS. 

Desirous to dispel entirely this timidity, and 
to open a trade with the simple inhabitants of 
the hut, who, he did not doubt, had furs some- 
where concealed, the captain now drew forth 
that grand lure in the eyes of the savage, a 
pocket mirror. The sight of it was irresistible. 
After examining it for a long time with wonder 
and admiration, they produced a muskrat skin, 
and offered it in exchange. The captain shook 
his head; but purchased the skin for a couple of 
buttons — superfluous trinkets ! as the worthy 
lord of the hovel had neither coat nor breeches 
on which to place them. 

The mirror still continued the great object of 
desire, particularly in the ej^es of the old house- 
wife, who produced a pot of parched flour and a 
string of biscuit roots. These procured her some 
trifle in return ; but could not command the pur- 
chase of the mirror. The salmon being now 
completely cooked, they all joined heartily in 
supper. A bounteous portion was deposited 
before the captain by the old woman, upon some 
fresh grass, which served instead of a platter ; 
and never had he tasted a salmon boiled so com- 
pletely to his fancy. 

Supper being over, the captain lighted his pipe 
and passed it to his host, who, inhaling the 
smoke, puffed it through his nostrils so assidu- 
ously, that in a little while his head manifested 
signs of confusion and dizziness. Being satis- 
fied, by this time, of the kindly and companion- 
able qualities of the captain, he became easy and 
communicative ; and at length hinted something 



TROUBLES OF AN EVIL CONSCIENCE. 447 

about exchanging beaver skins for horses. The 
captain at once offered to clisj^ose of his steed, 
which stood fastened at the door. The bargain 
was soon conchided, whereupon the Indian, re- 
moving a pile of bushes under which his valu- 
ables were concealed, drew forth the number of 
skins agreed upon as the price. 

Shortly afterwards, some of the captain's peo- 
ple coming up, he ordered another horse to be 
saddled, and mounting it took his departure from 
the hut, after distributing a few trifling presents 
among its simple inhabitants. During all the 
time of his visit, the little Indian girl had kept 
her large black eyes fixed upon him, almost with- 
out winking, watching every movement with awe 
and wonder ; and as he rode off, remained gazing 
after him, motionless as a statue. Her father, 
however, delighted with his new acquaintance, 
mounted his newly purchased horse, and followed 
in the train of the captain, to whom he continued 
to be a fliithful and useful adlierent during his 
sojourn in the neighborhood. 

The cowardly efforts of an evil conscience 
were evidenced in the conduct of one of the 
captain's men, who had been in the Californian 
expedition. During all their intercourse with 
the harmless people of this place, he had mani- 
fested uneasiness and anxiety. 'SYhile his com- 
panions mingled freely and joyously with the 
natives, he went about with a restless, suspicious 
look, scrutinizing every painted form and face, 
and starting often at the sudden approach of 
some meek and inoffensive savage, who regarded 



448 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

him with reverence as a superior being. Yet 
this was ordinarily a bold fellow, who never 
flinched from danger, nor turned pale at the 
prospect of a battle. At length he requested 
permission of Captain Bonneville to keep out of 
the way of these people entirely. Their striking 
resemblance, he said, to the people of Ogden's 
River, made him continually fear that some 
among them might have seen him in that expe- 
dition, and might seek an opportunity of re- 
venge. Ever after this, while they remained in 
this neighborhood, he would skulk out of the 
way and keep aloof when any of the native in- 
habitants approached. " Such," observes Captain 
Bonneville, " is the effect of self-reproach, even 
upon the roving trapper in the wilderness, who 
has little else to fear than the stings of his own 
guilty conscience." 




CHAPTER XLIV. 

Outfit of a trapper. — Risks to which he is subjected. — Part- 
nership of trappers. — Enmity of Indians. — Distant smoke. 
— A country on fire. — Gun Creek. — Grand Rond. — Fine 
pastures. — Perplexities in a smoky country. — Conflagra- 
tion of forests. 

|T had been the intention of Captain 
Bonneville, in descending along Snake 
^^! River, to scatter his trappers upon the 
smaller streams. Li this way, a range of country 
is trapped by small detachments from a main 
body. The outfit of a trapper is generally a 
rifle, a pound of powder, and four pounds of 
lead, with a bullet mould, seven traps, an axe, a 
hatchet, a knife and awl, a camp kettle, two 
blankets, and, where supplies are plenty, seven 
pounds of flour. He has, generally, two or 
three horses, to carry himself, and his baggage 
and peltries. Two trappers commonly go to- 
gether, for the purposes of mutual assistance and 
support ; a larger party could not easily escape 
the eyes of the Indians. It is a service of peril, 
and even more so at present than formerly, since 
they have got into the habit of trafficking peltries 
with the traders, have learnt the value of the 
beaver, and look upon the trappers as poachers, 
who are filching the riches from their streams 
29 



450 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

and interfering with their market. Tliey made 
no hesitation, therefore, to murder the solitary 
tra23per, , and thus destroy a competitor, while 
they possess themselves of his spoils. It is with 
regret we add, too, that this hostility has in many 
cases been instigated by traders, desirous of in- 
juring their rivals, but who have themselves 
often reaped the fruits of the mischief they have 
sown. 

When two trappers undertake any considera- 
ble stream, their mode of proceeding is to liide 
their horses in some lonely glen where they can 
graze unobserved. They then build a small hut, 
dig out a canoe from a cotton-wood tree, and in 
tills poke along shore silently in the evening, 
and set theu* traps. These they revisit in the 
same silent way at daybreak. When they take 
any beaver, they bring it home, skin it, stretch 
the skin on sticks to dry, and feast upon the 
flesh. The body, hung up before the fire, turns 
by its own weight, and is roasted in a superior 
style ; the tail is the trapper's titbit ; it is cut off, 
put on the end of a stick, and toasted, and it con- 
sidered even a greater dainty than the tongue or 
the marrow-bone of a buffalo. 

With all their silence and caution, however, 
the poor trappers cannot always escape their 
hawk-eyed enemies. Their trail has been dis- 
covered, perhaps, and followed up for many a 
mile ; or their smoke has been seen curling up 
out of the secret glen, or has been scented by the 
savages, whose sense of smell is almost as acute 
as that of sight. Sometimes they ai'e pounced 



A COUNTRY ON FIRE. 451 

upon when in the act of setting their traps ; at 
other times, they are roused from their sleep by 
the horrid war-whoop ; or, perhaps, have a bullet 
or an arrow whisthng about their ears, in the 
midst of one of their beaver banquets. In this 
way they are picked off, from time to time, and 
nothing is known of them, until, perchance, their 
bones are found bleaching in some lonely ravine, 
or on the banks of some nameless stream, which 
from that time is called after them. Many of 
the small streams beyond the mountains thus per- 
petuate the names of unfortunate trappers that 
have been murdered on their banks. 

A knowledge of these dangers deterred Cap- 
tain Bonneville, in the present instance, from de- 
tachmg small parties of trappers as he had in- 
tended ; for his scouts brought liim word that 
formidable bands of the Banneck Indians were 
lying on the Boisee and Payette Rivers, at no 
great distance, so that they would be apt to 
detect and cut off any stragglers. It behooved 
him, also, to keep his party together, to guard 
against any predatory attack upon the main 
body : he continued on his way, therefore, with- 
out dividing his forces. And fortunate it was 
that he did so ; for in a little while, he encoun- 
tered one of those phenomena of the western 
wilds that would effectually have prevented his 
scattered people from finding each other again. 
In a word, it was the season of setting fire to 
the prairies. As he advanced, he began to per- 
ceive great clouds of smoke at a distance, rising 
by degrees, and spreading over the whole face of 



452 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

the country. The atmosi^here became dry and 
surcharged with murky vajior, parching to the 
skin, and kritating to the eyes. When travel- 
ling among the hills, they could scarcely discern 
objects at the distance of a few paces ; indeed, 
the least exertion of the vision was painful. 
There was evidently some vast conflagration in 
the direction towards which they were proceed- 
ing ; it was as yet at a great distance, and dur- 
mg the day they could only see the smoke rismg 
hi larger and denser volumes, and rolling forth 
in an immense canopy. At night, the skies were 
all glowing with the reflection of unseen fires ; 
hanging in an immense body of lurid Hght, high 
above the horizon. 

Having reached Gun Creek, an important 
stream coming from the left. Captain Bonneville 
turned ujd its course, to traverse the mountains 
and avoid the great bend of Snake River. Bemg 
now out of the range of the Bannecks, he sent 
out his people in all directions to hunt the ante- 
lope for present supplies ; keeping the dried 
meats for places where game might be scarce. 

During four days that the party were ascend- 
ing Gun Creek, the smoke continued to increase 
so rapidly that it was impossible to distinguish 
the fiice of the country and ascertain landmarks. 
Fortunately the travellers fell upon an Indian 
trail, which led them to the head waters of the 
Fourche de Glace, or Ice River, sometimes called 
the Grand Rond. Here they found all the 
plains and valleys wrapped in one vast conflagra- 
tion ; wliich swept over the long grass in billows 



FISHING ON GRAND ROND. 453 

of flame, shot up every bush and tree, rose in 
great columns from the groves, and sent w^ clouds 
of smoke that darkened the atmosphere. To 
avoid this sea of fire, the travellers had to pursue 
their course close along the foot of the moun- 
tains ; but the irritation from the smoke con- 
tinued to be tormenting. 

The country about the head waters of the 
Grand Rond spreads out into broad and level 
prairies, extremely fertile, and watered by moun- 
tain springs and rivulets. These prairies are 
resorted to by small bands of the Skynses, to 
pasture their horses as well as to banquet upon 
the salmon which abound in the neighboring 
waters. They take these fish in great quantities 
and without the least difficulty ; simply taking 
them out of the water with their hands, as they 
flounder and struggle in the numerous long shoals 
of the principal streams. At the time the trav- 
ellers passed over these prairies, some of the 
narrow deep streams by which they were inter- 
sected were completely choked with salmon, 
wliich they took in great numbers. The wolves 
and bears frequent these streams at this season, 
to avail themselves of these great fisheries. 

The travellers continued, for many days, to 
experience great difficulties and discomforts from 
this wide conflagration, which seemed to embrace 
the whole wilderness. The sun was for a great 
part of the time obscured by the smoke, and the 
loftiest mountains were hidden from view. Blun- 
derinof alons: in this resfion of mist and uncer- 
tamty, they were frequently obliged to make long 



45 4 B ONNE VILLE' S AD VEN T URES. 

circuits, to avoid obstacles which they could not 
perceive until close upon them. The Indian 
trails were their safest guides, for though they 
sometimes appeared to lead them out of their 
direct course, they always conducted them to the 
passes. 

On the 26th of August they reached the head 
of the Way-lee-way River. Here, in a valley 
of the mountains through which this head water 
makes its way, they found a band of the Skynses, 
who were extremely sociable, and appeared to be 
well disposed, and as they spoke the Nez Perce 
language, an intercourse was easily kept up with 
them. 

In the pastures on the bank of this stream, 
Captain Bonneville encamped for a time, for the 
purpose of recruiting the strength of his horses. 
Scouts were now sent out to explore the sur- 
rounding country, and search for a convenient 
pass through the mountains towards the Walla- 
mut or Multnomah. After an absence of twenty 
days, they returned weary and discouraged. They 
had been harassed and perplexed in rugged 
mountain defiles, where their progress was con- 
tmually impeded by rocks and precipices. Often 
they had been obliged to travel along the edges 
of frightful ravines, where a false step would 
have been fatal. In one of these passes, a horse 
fell from the brink of a precipice, and would 
have been dashed to pieces had he not lodged 
among the branches of a tree, from which he 
was extricated with great difficulty. These, how- 
ever, were not the worst of their difficulties and 



CONFLAGRATIGN OF FORESTS. 455 

perils. The great conflagration of the country, 
wliich had harassed the main party in its march, 
was still more awful, the further this exploring 
party proceeded. The flames, which swept rap- 
idly over the light vegetation of the prairies, 
assumed a fiercer character, and took a stronger 
hold amidst the wooded glens and ravines of the 
mountains. Some of the deep gorges and defiles 
sent up sheets of flame, and clouds of lurid 
smoke, and sparks and cinders, that in the night 
made them resemble the craters of volcanos. The 
groves and forests, too, wliich crowned the cliffs, 
shot up tlieii- towering columns of fire, and added 
to the furnace glow of the mountains. With 
these stupendous sights were combined the rush- 
ing blasts caused by the rarefied au', wliich roared 
and howled through the narrow glens, and 
whirled forth the smoke and flames in impetuous 
wreaths. Ever and anon, too, was heard the 
crash of Mling trees, sometimes tumbling from 
crags and precipices, with tremendous sounds. 

In the daytime, the mountains were wrapped 
in smoke, so dense and blinding that the ex- 
plorers, if by chance they separated, could only 
find each other by shouting. Often, too, they 
had to grope their way through the yet burning 
forests, in constant peril from the limbs and 
trunks of trees, which frequently fell across their 
path. At length they gave up the attempt to 
find a pass as hopeless, under actual circum- 
stances, and made their way back to the camp to 
report their failure. 




CHAPTER XLV. 

The Skynses — their traffic — hunting — food — horses. — A 
horse-race. — Devotional feelings of the Skynses, Nez 
Perces, and Flatheads^ — Prayers. — Exhortations. — A 
preacher on horseback. — Effect of religion on the manners 
of the tribes. — A new light. 

|URING the absence of this detachment, 
a sociable intercourse had been kept up 
between the main party and the Skyn- 
ses, who had removed into the neighborhood of 
the camp. These people dwell about the waters 
of the Way-lee-way and the adjacent country, and 
trade regularly with the Hudson's Bay Company ; 
generally giving horses in exchange for the 
articles of wliich they stand in need. They bring 
beaver skins, also, to the trading posts ; not pro- 
cui'ed by trapping, but by a course of internal 
traffic with the shy and ignorant Shoshokoes and 
Too-el-icans, who keep in distant and unfre- 
quented parts of the country, and will not 
venture near the trading houses. The Skynses 
hunt the deer and elk occasionally ; and depend, 
for a part of the year, on fishing. Their main 
subsistence, however, is upon roots, especially the 
camash. This bulbous root is said to be of a 
delicious flavor, and highly nutritious. The 
women dig it up in great quantities, steam it, and 



INDIAN DEVOTIONS. 457 

deposit it in caches for winter provisions. It 
grows spontaneously, and absolutely covers the 
plains. 

This tribe were comfortably clad and equipped. 
They had a few rifles among them, and were 
extremely desirous of bartering for those of 
Captain Bonneville's men, offering a couple of 
good running horses for a light rifle. Their 
fii'st-rate horses, however, were not to be pro- 
cured from them on any terms. They almost 
invariably use ponies ; but of a breed infinitely 
superior to any in the United States. They are 
fond of trying their speed and bottom, and of 
betting upon them. 

As Captain Bonneville was desirous of judging 
of the comparative merit of their horses, he 
purchased one of their racers, and had a trial of 
speed between that, an American, and a Shosho- 
nie, which were supposed to be well matched. 
The race-course was for the distance of one mile 
and a half out and back. For the first half mile, 
the American took the lead, by a few hands ; but, 
losing his wind, soon fell far behind, leaving the 
Shoshonie and Sky use to contend together. For 
a mile and a half, they went head and head ; but 
at the turn the Skynse took the lead, and won 
the race with great ease, scarce drawing a quick 
breath when all was over. 

The Skynses, hke the Nez Perces and the 
Flatheads, , have a strong devotional feeling, 
which has been successfuly cultivated by some of 
the resident personages of the Hudson's Bay 
Company. Sunday is invariably kept sacred 



458 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES, 

among these tribes. They will not raise their 
camiD on that day, unless in extreme cases of 
danger or hunger: neither will they hunt, nor 
fish, nor trade, nor perform any kind of labor on 
that day. A part of it is passed in prayer and 
religious ceremonies. Some chief, who is gener- 
ally, at the same time, what is called a " medicine 
man," assembles the community. After invoking 
blessings from the Deity, he addresses the assem- 
blage ; exhorting them to good conduct ; to be 
diligent in providing for their families ; to abstain 
from lying and stealing ; to avoid quarrelling or 
cheating in their play, and to be just and hospit- 
able to all strangers who may be among them. 
Prayers and exhortations are also made, early in 
the morning, on week days. Sometimes, all this 
is done by the chief, from horseback ; moving 
slowly about the camp, with his hat on, and 
uttering liis exhortations with a loud voice. On 
all occasions, the bystanders listen with profound 
attention; and at the end of every sentence 
respond one word in unison ; apparently equiva- 
lent to an amen. While these prayers and ex- 
hortations are going on, every employment in 
the camp is suspended. If an Indian is riding by 
the place, he dismounts, holds his horse, and 
attends with reverence until, all is done. When 
the chief has finished his prayer or exhortation, 
he says, " I have done," upon which there is a 
general exclamation in unison. 

With these religious services, probably derived 
from the white men, the tribes above-mentioned, 
mingle some of their old Indian ceremonials; 



EFFECT OF RELIGION ON FLATHEADS. 459 

such as dancing to the cadence of a song or 
ballad, which is generally done in a large lodge 
provided for the purpose. Besides Sundays, they 
likewise observe the cardinal holidays of the 
Roman Catholic Church. 

Whoever has introduced these simple forms of 
religion among these poor savages, has evidently 
understood their characters and capacities, and 
effected a great meUoration of their manners. 
Of tliis we speak not merely from the testimony 
of Captain Bonneville, but, likewise, • from that 
of Mr. Wyeth, who passed some mouths in a 
travellmg camp of the Flatheads. " Durmg the 
time I have been with them," says he, " I have 
never known an instance of theft amonsf them : 
the least thing, even to a bead or pin, is brought 
to you, if found ; and, often, things that have been 
thrown away. Neither have I known any quar- 
relhng, nor lying. This absence of all quarrelling 
the more surprised me, when I came to see the 
various occasions that woulcfhave given rise to it 
among the whites : the crowding together of from 
twelve to eighteen hundred horses, which have to 
be driven into camp at night, to be picketed ; to 
be packed in the morning ; the gathering of fuel 
in places where it is extremely scanty. All this, 
however, is done without confusion or dis- 
turbance. 

" They have a mild, playful, laugliing disposi- 
tion ; and this is portrayed in their countenances. 
They are polite, and unobtrusive. When one 
speaks, the rest pay strict attention : when he is 
done, another assents by 'yes,' or dissents by 



460 BONNEVILLE^ S ADVENTURES. 

' no ; ' and then states his reasons, which are 
listened to with equal attention. Even the chil- 
dren are more peaceable than other children. I 
never heard an angry word among them, nor any- 
quarrelling, although there were, at least, five 
hundred of them together, and continually at 
play. With all this quietness of sjDirit, they are 
brave when put to the test; and are an over- 
match for an equal number of Blackfeet. 

The foregoing observations, though gathered 
from Mr. .Wyeth as relative to the Flatheads, 
apply, in the main, to the Skynses also. Cap- 
tain Bonneville, during his sojourn with the lat- 
ter, took constant occasion, in conversing with 
their jjrincipal men, to encourage them in the 
cultivation of moral and religious habits ; draw- 
ing a comparison between their jDeaceable and 
comfortable course of life, and that of other tribes, 
and attributing it to their superior sense of mor- 
ality and religion. He frequently attended their 
religious services, with his people ; always en- 
joining on the latter the most reverential deport- 
ment ; and he observed that the poor Indians 
were always pleased to have the wliite men 
present. 

The disposition of these tribes is evidently 
favorable to a considerable degree of civilization. 
A few farmers, settled among them, might lead 
them. Captain Bonneville thinks, to till the 
earth and cultivate grain ; the country of the 
Skynses, and Nez Perces, is admirably adapted 
for the raising of cattle. A Christian missionary 
or two, and some trifling assistance from govern- 



INDIAN SUNDAY RECREATIONS. 461 

ment, to protect them from the predatory and 
warHke tribes, might lay the foundation of a 
Christian people in the midst of the great west- 
ern wilderness, who would " wear the Americans 
near their hearts." 

We must not omit to observe, however, in 
qualification of the sanctity of this Sabbath in 
the wilderness, that these tribes, who are all 
ardently addicted to gambling and horse-racing, 
make Sunday a peculiar day for recreations of 
the kind, not deeming them in any wise out of 
season. After prayers and pious ceremonials are 
over, there is scarce an hour m the day, says 
Captain Bonneville, that you do not see several 
horses racing at full speed ; and in every corner 
of the camp, are groups of gamblers, ready to 
stake everything upon the all-absorbing game of 
" hand." The Indians, says Wyeth, appear to 
enjoy their amusements with more zest than the 
whites. They are great gamblers ; and, in pro- 
portion to their means, play bolder, and bet higher 
than white men. 

The cultivation of the religious feeling, above 
noted among the savages, has been, at times, a 
convenient policy with some of the more know- 
ing traders, who have derived great credit and 
influence among them, by being considered 
" medicine men," that is, men gifted with myste- 
rious knowledge. This feeling is, also, at times, 
played upon by religious charlatans ; who are to 
be fomid in savage, as well as civilized life. One 
of these was noted by Wyeth, during his sojourn 
among the Flatheads. A new great man, says 



462 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

he, is rising in the camp, who aims at power and 
sway. He covers his designs under the ample 
cloak of religion — inculcating some new doctrines 
and ceremonials among those who are more sim- 
ple than himself. He has already made prose- 
lytes of one fifth of the camj) ; beginning by 
working on the women, the children, and the 
weak-minded. His followers are all dancing on 
the plain, to their own vocal music. The more 
knowing ones of the tribe look on and laugh, 
thinking it all too foolish to do harm ; but they 
will soon find that women, children, and fools, 
form a large majority of every community, and 
they will have eventually to follow the new light, 
or be considered among the profane. As soon 
as a preacher, or pseudo prophet of the kind gets 
followers enough, he either takes command of 
the tribe, or branches off and sets up for an in- 
dependent chief and " medicine man." 




CHAPTER XL VI. 

Scarcity m the camp. — Refusal of supplies by the Hudson's 
Bay Company. — Conduct of the Indians. — A hungry re- 
treat. — John Day's River. — The Blue Mountains. — Sal- 
mon fishing on Snake River. — Messengers from the Crow 
country. — Bear River Valley. — Immense migration of 
buffalo. — Danger of buflalo hunting. — A wounded In- 
dian. — Eutaw Indians. — A "surround" of antelopes. 



RO VISIONS were now growing scanty 
in the camp, and Captain Bonneville 
found it necessary to seek a new neigh- 
borhood. Taking leave, therefore, of his friends, 
the Skynses, he set off to the westward, and, 
crossing a low range of mountains, encamped on 
the head waters of the Ottolais. Being now 
within thirty miles of Fort Wallah- Wallah, the 
trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company, he sent 
a small detachment of men thither, to purchase 
corn for the subsistence of his party. The men . I 
were well received at the fort, but all supplies for "^ 
their camp were promptly refused. Tempting of- 
fers were made them, however, if they would leave 
their present employ, and enter into the service 
of the company ; but they were not to be seduced. 
When Captain Bonneville saw his messengers 
return empty-handed, he ordered an instant move, 
for there was imminent danger of famine. He 
pushed forward down the course of the Ottolais 



464 B ONNE VILL E'S AD VEN T UR ES. 

which runs diagonal to the Columbia, and falls 
into it about fifty miles below the Wallah-Wal- 
lah. His route lay through a beautiful undulat- 
ing country, covered with horses belonging to the 
Skynses, who sent them there for pasturage. 

On reaching the Columbia, Captain Bonneville 
hoped to open a trade with the natives, for fish 
and other provisions, but to his surprise, they 
kept aloof, and even hid themselves on his ap- 
proach. He soon discovered that they were 
under the influence of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany, who had forbidden them to trade, or hold 
any communion with him. He proceeded along 
the Columbia, but it was everywhere the same ; 
not an article of provisions was to be obtained 
from the natives, and he was, at length, obliged 
to kill a couple of his horses to sustain his fam- 
ishing people. He now came to a halt, and con- 
sulted what was to be done. The broad and 
beautiful Columbia lay before them, smooth and 
unruffled as a mirror ; a little more journey- 
ing would take them to its lower region ; to the 
noble valley of the Wallamut, their projected 
winter-quarters. To advance under present cir- 
cumstances would be to court starvation. The 
resources of the country were locked against 
them, by the influence of a jealous and pow- 
erful monopoly. If they reached the Walla- 
mut, they could scarcely hope to obtain sufficient 
supplies for the winter ; if they lingered any 
longer in the country, the snows would gather 
upon the mountains and cut off' their retreat. 
By hastening tlieir return, tliey would be able to 



HARDSHIPS OF THE RETURN. 465 

reach the Blue Mountains just in time to find 
the elk, the deer, and the bighorn; and after 
they had supplied themselves with provisions, they 
might push through the mountains, before they 
were entirely blocked up by snow. Influenced 
by these considerations, Captain Bonneville re- 
luctantly turned his back a second time on the 
Columbia, and set off for the Blue Mountains. 
He took his course up John Day's River, so 
called from one of the hunters in the original 
Astorian enterprise. As famine was at his heels, 
he travelled fast, and reached the mountains by 
the 1st of October. He entered by the opening 
made by John Day's River; it was a rugged 
and difficult defile, but he and his men had be- 
come accustomed to hard scrambles of the kind. 
Fortunately, the September rains had extin- 
guished the fires which recently spread over these 
regions ; and the mountains, no longer wrapped 
in smoke, now revealed all their grandeur and 
sublimity to the eye. 

They were disappointed in their expectation 
of finding abundant game in the mountains ; 
large bands of the natives had passed through, 
returning from their fishing expeditions, and 
had driven all the game before them. It was 
only now and then that the hunters could bring 
in sufficient to keep the party from starva- 
tion. 

To add to their distress, they mistook their 
route, and wandered for ten days among high and 
bald hills of clay. At length, after much per- 
plexity, they made their way to the banks of 



466 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

Snake River, following the course of which, 
they were sure to reach their place of destina- 
tion. 

It was the 20th of October when they found 
themselves once more upon this noted stream. 
The Shoshokoes, whom they had met with in 
such scanty numbers on their journey down 
the river, now absolutely thronged its banks to 
profit by the abundance of salmon, and lay up 
a stock for winter provisions. Scaffolds were 
everywhere erected, and immense quantities of 
fish drying upon them. At this season of the 
year, however, the salmon are extremely poor, 
and the travellers needed their keen sauce of hun- 
ger to give them a relish. 

In some places the shores were completely 
covered with a stratum of dead salmon, exhausted 
in ascending the river, or destroyed at the falls ; 
the fetid odor of which tainted the air. 

It was not until the travellers reached the 
head waters of the Portneuf, that they really 
found themselves in a region of abundance. 
Here the buffalo were in immense herds ; and 
here they remained for three days, slaying, and 
cooking, and feasting, and indemnifying them- 
selves by an enormous carnival, for a long and 
hungry Lent. Their horses, too, found good 
pasturage, and enjoyed a little rest after a severe 
spell of hard travelling. 

During this period, two horsemen arrived at 
the camp, who proved to be messengers sent ex- 
press for supplies from Montero's party ; which 
had been sent to beat up the Crow country and 



ARRANGEMENTS FOR WINTERING. 467 

the Black Hills, and to winter on the Arkansas. 
They reported that all was well with the party, 
but that they had not been able to accomplish 
the whole of their mission, and were still in the 
Crow country, where they slioiild remain until 
joined by Captain Bonneville in the spring. 
The captain retained the messengers with him until 
the 17th of November, when, having reached the 
caches on Bear River, and procured thence the 
required supplies, he sent them back to their 
party ; appointing a rendezvous towards the last 
of June following, on the forks of Wind River 
Valley, in the Crow country. 

He now remained several days encamped near 
the caches, and having discovered a small band 
of Shoshonies in his neighborhood, purchased 
from them lodges, furs, and other articles of 
winter comfort, and arranged with them to en- 
camp together during the winter. 

The place designed by the captain for the 
wintering ground was on the upper part of Bear 
River, some distance off. He delayed approach- 
ing it as long as possible, in order to avoid driv- 
ing off the buffalo, which would be needed for 
winter provisions. He accordingly moved for- 
ward but slowly, merely as the want of game 
and grass obliged him to shift his position. The 
weather had already become extremely cold, and 
the snow lay to a considerable depth. To enable 
the horses to carry as much dried meat as possi- 
ble, he caused a cache to be made, in whicli all 
tiie baggage that could be spared was deposited. 
This done, the party continued to move slowly 
towards their winter quarters. 



468 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

They were not doomed, however, to suffer 
from scarcity during the present winter. The 
people upon Snake River having chased off the 
buffalo before the snow had become deep, im- 
mense herds now came trooping over the moun- 
tains ; forming dark masses on their sides, from 
which their deep-mouthed bellowing sounded like 
the low peals and mutterings from a gathering 
thunder-cloud. In effect, the cloud broke, and 
down came the torrent thundering into the val- 
ley. It is utterly impossible, according to Cap- 
tain Bonneville, to convey an idea of the effect 
produced by the sight of such countless throngs 
of animals of such bulk and spirit, all rushing 
forward as if swept on by a whirlwind. 

The long privation which the travellers had 
suffered gave uncommon ardor to their present 
hunting. One of the Indians attached to the 
party, finding himself on horseback in the midst 
of the buffaloes, without either rifle, or bow and 
arrows, dashed after a fine cow that was passing 
close by him, and plunged his knife into her side 
with such lucky aim as to bring her to the 
ground. It was a daring deed ; but hunger had 
made him almost desperate. 

The buffaloes are sometimes tenacious of life, 
and must be wounded in particular parts. A 
ball striking the shagged frontlet of a bull, pro- 
duces no other effect than a toss of the head, 
and greater exasperation ; on the contrary, a ball 
striking the forehead of a cow, is fatal. Several 
instances occurred during this great hunting bout, 
of bulls fighting furiously after having received 



THE GORED HUNTER. 469 

mortal wounds. Wyeth, also, was witness to an 
instance of the kind while encamped with the 
Indians. During a grand hunt of the buffalo, 
one of the Indians pressed a bull so closely that 
the animal turned suddenly upon him. His 
horse stopped short, or started back, and threw 
him. Before he could rise, the bull rushed furi- 
ously upon him, and gored him in the chest, so 
that his breath came out at the aperture. He 
was conveyed back to the camp, and his wound 
was dressed. Giving himself up for slain, he 
called round him his friends, and made his will 
by word of mouth. It was something like a 
death cliant, and at the end of every sentence 
those around responded in concord. He appeared 
no ways intimidated by the approach of death. 
" I think," adds Wyeth, « that the Indians die 
better than the white men ; perhaps, from having 
less fear about the future." 

The buffalo may be approached very near, if 
the hunter keeps to the leeward ; but they are 
quick of scent, and will take the alarm and move 
off from a party of hunters, to the windward, 
even when two miles distant. 

The vast herds which had poured down into 
the Bear River Valley, were now snow-bound, 
and remained in the neighborhood of the camp 
throughout tlie winter. This furnished the trap- 
pers and their Indian friends a perpetual carnival ; 
so that to slay and eat seemed to be the main 
occupations of the day. It is astonishing what 
loads of meat it requires to cope with the appe- 
tite of a hunting camp. 



470 B ONNE VILL E'S AD YEN T VRES. 

The ravens and wolves soon came in for their 
share of the good cheer. These constant atten- 
dants of the hunter gathered in vast numbers as 
the winter advanced. They might be completely 
out of sight, but at the report of a gun flights 
of ravens would immediately be seen hovering 
in the air, no one knew whence they came ; while 
the sharp visages of the wolves would peep down 
from the brow of every hill, waiting for the hun- 
ter's departure, to pounce upon the carcass. 

Beside the buffaloes, there were other neigh- 
bors snow-bound in the valley, whose presence 
did not promise to be so advantageous. This 
was a band of Eutaw Indians, who were en- 
camped higher up on the river. They are a 
poor tribe, that in a scale of the various tribes 
inhabiting these regions, would rank between the 
Shoshonies and the Shoshokoes or Root Diggers ; 
though more bold and warlike than the latter. 
They have but few rifles among them, and are 
generally armed with bows and arrows. 

As this band and the Shoshonies were at 
deadly feud, on account of old grievances, and as 
neither party stood in awe of the other, it was 
feared some bloody scenes might ensue. Cap- 
tain Bonneville, therefore, undertook the office 
of pacificator, and sent to the Eutaw chiefs, in- 
viting them to a friendly smoke, in order to 
bring about a reconciliation. His invitation was 
proudly declined ; whereupon he went to them 
in person, and succeeded in effecting a suspension 
of hostilities, until the chiefs of the two tribes 
could meet in council. The braves of the two 



ANTELOPE HUNTING. 471 

rival camps sullenly acquiesced in the arrange- 
ment. They would take their seats upon the 
hill tops, and watch their quondam enemies hunt- 
ing the buffalo in the plain below, and evidently 
repine, that their hands were tied up from a 
skirmish. The worthy captain, however, suc- 
ceeded in carrying through his benevolent medi- 
ation. The chiefs met ; the amicable pipe was 
smoked, the hatchet buried, and peace formally 
proclaimed. After this, both camps united and 
mingled in social intercourse. Private quarrels, 
however, would occasionally occur in hunting, 
about the division of the game, and blows would 
sometimes be exchanged over the carcass of a 
buffalo ; but the chiefs wisely took no notice of 
these individual brawls. 

One day, the scouts, who had been ranging the 
hills, brought news of several large herds of an- 
telopes in a small valley at no great distance. 
This produced a sensation among the Indians, for 
both tribes were in ragged condition, and sadly 
in want of those shirts made of the skin of the 
antelope. It was determined to have "a sur- 
round," as the mode of hunting that animal is 
called. Everything now assumed an air of mys- 
tic solemnity and importance. The chiefs pre- 
pared their medicines or charms, each according 
to his own method, or fancied inspiration, gener- 
ally with the compound of certain simples ; oth- 
ers consulted the entrails of animals which they 
had sacrificed, and thence drew favorable augu- 
ries. After much grave smoking and deliberating, 
it was at length proclaimed, that all who were 



472 BONNEVILLE S ADVENTURES. 

able to lift a club, man, woman, or child, should 
muster for " the surround." When all had con- 
gregated, they moved in rude procession to the 
nearest point of the valley in question, and there 
halted. Another course of smoking and delib- 
erating, of which the Indians are so fond, took 
place among the chiefs. Directions were then 
issued for the horsemen to make a circuit of 
about seven miles, so as to encompass the herd. 
When this was done, the whole mounted force 
dashed off, simultaneously, at full speed, shouting 
and yelling at the top of their voices. In a 
short space of time, the antelopes, started from 
their hiding places, came bounding from all points 
into the valley. The riders now gradually con- 
tracting their circle, brought them nearer and 
nearer to the spot where the senior chief, sur- 
rounded by the elders, male and female, was seated 
in supervision of the chase. The antelopes, 
nearly exhausted with fatigue and fright, and be- 
wildered by perpetual whooping, made no effort to 
break through the ring of the hunters, but ran 
round in small circles, until man, woman, and 
child beat them down with bludgeons. Such is 
the nature of that species of antelope hunting, 
technically called " a surround." 




CHAPTER XLYII. 

A festive winter. — Conversion of the Shoshonies. — Visit of 
two free trappers. — Gayety in the camp. — A touch of the 
tender passion. — The reclaimed squaw. — An Indian fine 
lad}'. — An elopement. — A pursuit. — Market value of a 
bad wife. 



AME continued to abound throughout 
the winter; and the camp was over- 
t^^^^ ^l stocked with provisions. Beef and ven- 
ison, humps and haunches, buffalo tongues and 
marrow-bones, were constantly cooking at every 
fire ; and the whole atmosphere was redolent 
with the savory fumes of roast meat. It was, in- 
deed, a continual " feast of fat things," and though 
there might be a lack of "wine upon the lees," 
yet, we have shown that a substitute was occa- 
sionally to be found in honey and alcohol. 

Both the Shoshonies and the Eutaws conduc- 
ted themselves with great propriety. It is true, 
they now and then filched a few trifles from their 
good friends, the Big Hearts, when their backs 
were turned ; but then, they always treated them, 
to their faces, with the utmost deference and re- 
spect ; and good-humoredly vied with the trappers 
in all kinds of feats of activity and mirthful sports. 
The two tribes maintained towards each other, 
also, a friendliness of aspect, which gave Cap- 



474 BONNEVILLE? S ADVENTURES. 

tain Bonneville reason to hope that all past an- 
imosity was effectually buried. 

The two rival bands, however, had not long 
been mingled in this social manner, before their 
ancient jealousy began to break out, in a new 
form. The senior chief of the Shoshonies was a 
thinking man, and a man of observation. He 
had been among the Nez Perces, listened to their 
new code of morality and religion received from 
the white men, and attended their devotional ex- 
ercises. He had observed the effect of all this, 
in elevating the tribe in the estimation of the 
white men ; and determined, by the same means, 
to gain for his own tribe a superiority over their 
ignorant rivals, the Eutaws. He accordingly as- 
sembled his people, and promulgated among them 
the mongrel doctrines and form of worship of the 
Nez Perces ; recommending the same to their 
adoption. The Shoshonies were struck with the 
novelty, at least, of the measure, and entered into 
it with spirit. They began to observe Sundays 
and holidays, and to have their devotional dances, 
and chants, and other ceremonials, about which 
the ignorant Eutaws knew nothing ; while they 
exerted their usual competition in shooting and 
horse-racing, and the renowned game of hand. 

Matters were going on thus pleasantly and 
prosperously, in this motley community of white 
and red men, when, one morning, two stark free 
trappers, arrayed in the height of savage finery, 
and mounted on steeds as fine and as fiery as 
themselves, and all jingling with hawk's bells, 
came galloping, with whoop and halloo, into the 
camp. 



THE DASn/NG FREE TRAPPERS. 475 

They were fresh from the winter encamp- 
ment of the American Fur Company, in the 
Green River Valley ; and had come to pay their 
old comrades of Captain Bonneville's company a 
visit. An idea may be formed, from the scenes 
we have already given of conviviality in the 
wilderness, of the manner in which these game 
birds were received by those of their feather in 
the camp ; what feasting, what reveling, what 
boasting, what bragging, what ranting and roaring, 
and racing and gambling, and squabbling and 
fighting, ensued among these boon companions. 
Captain Bonneville, it is true, maintained always 
a certain degree of law and order in his camp, 
and checked each fierce excess ; but the trappers, 
in their seasons of idleness and relaxation, require 
a degree of license and indulgence, to repay 
them for the long privations, and almost incred- 
ible hardships of their periods of active service. 

In the midst of all this feasting and frolicking, 
a freak of the tender passion intervened, and 
wrought a complete change in the scene. 
Among the Indian beauties in the camp of the 
Eutaws and Shoshonies, the free trappers discov- 
ered two, who had whilom figured as their 
squaws. These connections frequently take place 
for a season, and sometimes continue for years, 
if not perpetually ; but are apt to be broken 
when the free trapper starts off, suddenly, on 
some distant and rough expedition. 

In the present instance, these wild blades were 
anxious to regain their belles ; nor were the latter 
loath once more to come under their protection. 



476 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

The free trapper combines, in the eye of an In- 
dian girl, all that is dashing and heroic in a war- 
rior of her own race, whose gait, and garb, and 
bravery he emulates, with all that is gallant and 
glorious in the white man. And then the indul- 
gence with which he treats her, the finery in 
which he decks her out, the state in which she 
moves, the sway she enjoys over both his purse 
and person, instead of being the drudge and slave 
of an Indian husband ; obliged to carry his pack, 
and build his lodge, and make his fire, and bear 
his cross humors and dry blows. — No ; there is 
no comparison, in the eyes of an aspiring belle 
of the wilderness, between a free trapper and an 
Indian brave. 

With respect to one of the parties, the matter 
was easily arranged. The beauty in question 
was a pert little Eutaw wench, that had been 
taken prisoner, in some war excursion, by a Sho- 
shonie. She was readily ransomed for a few ar- 
ticles of trifling value ; and forthwith figured 
about the camp in fine array, " with rings on her 
fingers, and bells on her toes," and a tossed-up 
coquettish air, that made her the envy, admiration, 
and abhorrence of all the leathern-dressed, hard- 
working squaws of her acquaintance. 

As to the other beauty, it was quite a differ- 
ent matter. She had become the wife of a Sho- 
shonie brave. It is true, he had another wife, 
of older date than the one in question : who, 
therefore, took command in his household, and 
treated his new spouse as a slave ; but the latter 
was the wife of his last fancy, his latest caprice ; 



AN ELOPEMENT. 477 

and was precious in his eyes. All attempt to 
bargain with him, therefore, was useless ; the 
very proposition was repulsed with anger and 
disdain. The spirit of the trapper was roused, 
his pride was piqued as well as his passion. He 
endeavored to prevail upon his quondam mistress 
to elope with him. His horses were fleet, the 
winter nights were long and dark, before day- 
light they would be beyond the reach of pursuit ; 
and once at the encampment in Green River Val- 
ley, they might set the whole band of Shoshonies 
at defiance. 

The Indian girl listened and longed. Her 
heart yearned after the ease and splendor of con- 
dition of a trapper's bride, and throbbed to be 
freed from the capricious control of the premier 
squaw ; but she dreaded the failure of the plan, 
and the fury of a Shoshonie husband. They 
parted ; the Indian girl in tears, and the madcap 
trapper more mad than ever, with his thwarted 
passion. 

Their interviews had, probably, been detected, 
and the jealousy of the Shoshonie brave aroused : 
a clamor of angry voices was heard in his lodge, 
with the sound of blows, and of female weeping 
and lamenting. At night, as the trapper lay 
tossing on his pallet, a soft voice whispered at 
the door of his lodge. His mistress stood trem- 
bling before hira. She was ready to follow 
whithersoever he should lead. 

In an instant, he was up and out. He had 
two prime horses, sure, and swift of foot, and of 
great wind. With stealthy quiet, they were 



478 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

brought up and saddled ; and, in a few moments, 
he and his prize were careering over the snow, 
with which the whole country was covered. In 
the eagerness of escape, they had made no pro- 
vision for their journey ; days must elapse before 
they could reach their haven of safety, and moun- 
tains and prairies be traversed, wrapped in all the 
desolation of winter. For the present, however, 
they thought of nothing but flight ; urging their 
horses forward over the dreary wastes, and fancy- 
ing, in the howling of every blast, they heard the 
yell of the pursuer. 

At early dawn, the Shoshonie became aware 
of his loss. Mounting his swiftest horse, he set 
off in hot pursuit. He soon found the trail of 
the fugitives, and spurred on in hopes of over- 
taking them. The winds, however, which swept 
the valley, had drifted the light snow into the 
prints made by the horses' hoofs. In a little 
while, he lost all trace of them, and was com- 
pletely thrown out of the chase. He knew, 
however, the situation of the camp toward which 
they were bound, and a direct course through 
the mountains, by which he might arrive there 
sooner than the fu2;itives. Through the most 
rugged defiles, therefore, he urged his course by 
day and night, scarce pausing until he reached 
the camp. It was some time before the fugitives 
made their appearance. Six days had they been 
traversing the wintry wilds. They came, hag- 
gard with hunger and fatigue, and their horses 
faltering under them. The first object that met 
their eyes, on entering the camp, was the Sho- 



VALUE OF A BAD WIFE. 479 

shonie brave. He rushed, knife in hand, to 
phmge it in the heart that had proved false to 
him. The trapper threw himself before the cow- 
ering form of his mistress, and, exhausted as he 
was, prepared for a deadly struggle. The Sho- 
shonie paused. His habitual awe of the white 
man checked his arm ; the trapper's friends 
crowded to the spot, and arrested him. A parley 
ensued. A kind of criin. con. adjudication took 
place ; such as frequently occurs in civilized life. 
A couple of horses were declared to be a fair 
compensation for the loss of a woman who had 
previously lost her heart ; with this, the Shosho- 
nie brave was fain to pacify his passion. He re- 
turned to Captain Bonneville's camp, somewhat 
crest-fallen, it is true ; but parried the officious 
condolements of his friends, by observing, that 
two good horses were very good pay for one bad 
wife. 





CHAPTER XLVIIL 

Breaking up of winter quarters. — Move to Green River. — 
A trapper and his ritle. — An arrival in camp. — A free 
trapper and his squaw in distress. — Story of a Blackfoot 
belle. 

I HE winter was now breaking up, the 
snows were melted from the liills, and 
from the lower parts of the mountains, 
and the time for decamping had arrived. Captain 
Bonneville dispatched a party to the caches, who 
brought away all the effects concealed there, and 
on the 1st of April (1835), the camp was broken 
up, and every one on the move. The white men 
and their allies, the Eutaws and Shoshonies, parted 
with many regrets and sincere expressions of good- 
will, for their intercourse throughout the winter 
had been of the most friendly kind. 

Captain Bonneville and his party passed by 
Ham's Fork, and reached the Colorado, or Green 
River, without accident, on the banks of which they 
remained during the residue of the spring. During 
this time, they were conscious that a band of 
hostile Indians were hovering about their vicinity, 
watching for an opportunity to slay or steal ; but 
the vigilant precautions of Captain Bonneville 
baffled all their maneuvers. In such dangerous 
times, the experienced mountaineer is never with- 



AN. ARRIVAL IN CAMP. 481 

out liis rifle, even in camp. On going from lodge 
to lodge to visit his comrades, he takes it with 
him. On seating himself in a lodge, he laj^s it 
beside him, ready to be snatched up ; when he 
goes out, he takes it up as regularly as a citizen 
would his walking staff. His rifle is his constant 
friend and protector. 

On the 10th of June, the party were a little to 
the east of the Wind River Mountains, where 
they halted for a time in excellent pasturage, to 
give their horses a chance to recruit their strength 
for a long journey ; for it was Captain Bonneville's 
intention to shape Ms course to the settlements ; 
having already been detained by the complication 
of his duties, and by various losses and impedi- 
ments, far beyond the time specified in his leave 
of absence. 

Wliile the party was thus reposing in the 
neighborhood of the Wind River Mountains, a 
solitary free trapper rode one day into the camp, 
and accosted Captain Bonneville. He belonged, 
he said, to a party of thirty hunters, who had just 
passed through the neighborhood, but whom he 
had abandoned in consequence of their ill treat- 
ment of a brother trajDper ; whom they had cast 
off from their party, and left with his bag and 
baggage, and an Indian wife into the bargain, in 
the midst of a desolate prairie. The horseman 
gave a piteous account of the situation of this 
helpless pair, and soHcited the loan of horses to 
bring them and their effects to the camp. 

The captain was not a man to refuse assistance 
to any one in distress, especially when there was 

31 



482 B ONNE VILLE' S AD VENTURES. 

a woman in the case ; horses were immediately 
dispatched, with an escort, to aid the unfortunate 
couple. The next day, they made their appear- 
ance with all their effects: the man, a stalwart 
mountaineer, with a peculiarly game look; the 
woman, a young Blackfoot beauty, arrayed in the 
trappings and trinketry of a free trapper's bride. 

Finding the woman to be quick-witted and 
communicative, Captain Bonneville entered into 
conversation with her, and obtained from her 
many particulars concerning the habits and cus- 
toms of her tribe ; esj>ecially their wars and hunt- 
ings. Tliey pride themselves upon being the 
" best legs of the mountains," and hunt the buffalo 
on foot. This is done in spring time, when the 
frosts have thawed and the gi'ound is soft. The 
heavy buffalo then sink over their hoofs at every 
step, and are easily overtaken by the Blackfeet; 
whose fleet steps press lightly on the surflice. It 
is said, however, that the buffalo on the Pacific 
side of the Rocky Mountains are fleeter and more 
active than on the Atlantic side ; those upon the 
plains of the Columbia can scarcely be overtaken 
by a horse that woiJd outstrip the same animal 
in the neighborhood of the Platte, the usual hunt- 
ing ground of the Blackfeet In the course of 
further conversation. Captain Bonneville drew 
from the Indian woman her whole story ; wliich 
gave a picture of savage life, and of the drudgery 
and hardships to which an Indian wife is subject. 

" I was the wife," said she, " of a Blackfoot 
warrior, and I served him faithfully. Who was 
so well served as he ? Whose lodge was so well 



STORY OF THE BLACKF GOT BELLE. 483 

provided, or kept so clean ? I brought wood in 
the morning, and placed water always at hand. 
I watched for his coming ; and he found his meat 
cooked and ready. If he rose to go forth, there 
was notliing to delay him. I searched the thought 
that was in liis heart, to save him the trouble of 
speaking. When I went abroad on errands for 
him, the chiefs and warriors smiled upon me, and 
the young braves spoke soft thmgs, in secret ; but 
my feet were in the straight path, and my eyes 
could see nothing but him. 

" When he went out to hunt, or to war, who 
aided to equip him, but I ? When he returned, 
I met him at the door ; I took his gun ; and he 
entered without further thought. While he sat 
and smoked, I unloaded his horses ; tied them to 
the stakes ; brought in their loads, and was quickly 
at his feet. If his moccasins were wet, I took 
them off and put on others which were dry and 
warm. I dressed all the skins he had taken in 
the chase. He could never say to me, why is it 
not done ? He hunted the deer, the antelope, and 
the buffalo, and he watched for the enemy. Every- 
thing else was done by me. When our people 
moved their camp, he mounted his horse and rode 
away ; free as though he had fallen from the skies. 
He had nothing to do with the labor of the camp ; 
it was I that packed the horses, and led them on 
the journey. When we halted in the evening, 
and he sat with the other braves and smoked, it 
was I that pitched his lodge ; and when he came 
to eat and sleep, his supper and his bed were 
ready. 



484 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

" I served him faithfully ; and what was my 
reward ? A cloud was always on his brow, and 
sharp hghtning on his tongue. I was his dog ; 
and not his wife. 

" Who was it that scarred and bruised me ? It 
was he. My brother saw how I was treated. 
His heart was big for me. He begged me to 
leave my tyrant and fly. Wliere could I go? 
If retaken, who would protect me ? My brother 
was not a chief ; he could not save me from blows 
and wounds, perhaps death. At length I was 
persuaded. I followed my brother from the 
village. He pointed the way to the Nez Perces, 
and bade me go and live in peace among them. 
We parted. On the third day I saw the lodges 
of the Nez Perces before me. I paused for a 
moment, and had no heart to go on ; but my horse 
neighed, and I took it as a good sign, and suf- 
fered him to gallop forward. In a little while I 
was in the midst of the lodges. As I sat silent on 
my horse, the people gathered round me, and in- 
quired whence I came. I told my story. A chief 
now wrapped his blanket close around him, and 
bade me dismount. I obeyed. He took my horse to 
lead him away. My heart grew small within me. 
I felt, on parting with my horse, as if my last 
friend was gone. I had no words, and my eyes 
were dry. As he led off my horse, a young brave 
stepped forward. ' Are you a chief of the people ? ' 
cried he. ' Do we listen to you in council, and 
follow you in battle? Behold! a stranger flies 
to our camp from the dogs of Blackfeet, and asks 
protection. Let shame cover your face ! The 



8T0R 7 OF THE BLA CKFO T BELLE. 485 

stranger is a woman, and alone. If she were a 
warrior, or had a warrior by her side, your heart 
would not be big enough to take her horse. But 
he is yours. By the right of war you may claim 
him ; but look ! ' — his bow was drawn, and the 
arrow ready ! — ' you never shall cross his back ! ' 
The arrow pierced the heart of the horse, and he 
fell dead. 

" An old woman said she would be my mother. 
She led me to her lodge : my heart was thawed 
by her kindness, and my eyes burst forth with 
tears ; like the frozen fountains in spring-time. 
She never changed ; but as the days passed away, 
was still a mother to me. The people were loud 
in praise of the young brave, and the chief was 
ashamed. I lived in peace. 

" A party of trappers came to the village, and 
one of them took me for his wife. This is he. 
I am very happy ; he treats me with kindness, 
and I have taught him the language of my peo- 
ple. As we were travelling this way, some of 
the Blackfeet warriors beset us, and carried off 
the horses of the party. We followed, and my 
husband held a parley with them. The guns 
were laid down, and the pipe was lighted; but 
some of the white men attempted to seize the 
horses by force, and then a battle began. The 
snow was deep ; the white men sank into it at 
every step ; but the red men, with their snow- 
shoes, passed over the surface like birds, and 
drove off many of the horses in sight of their 
owners. With those that remained we resumed 
our journey. At length words took place be- 



486 



BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 



tweeu the leader of the party and my husband. 
He took away our horses, wliich had escaped in 
the battle, and turned us from his camp. My 
husband had one good friend among the trappers. 
That is he (pointing to the man who had asked 
assistance for them). He is a good man. His 
heart is big. When he came in from hunting, 
and found that we had been driven away, he 
gave up all his wages, and followed us, that he 
might speak good words for us to the white cap- 
tain." 





CHAPTER XLIX. 

A rendezvous at Wind River. — Campaign of Montero and 
his brigade in the Crow country. — Wars between the 
Crows and Blackteet. — Death of Arapooish. — Blackfeet 
lurkers. — Sagacity of the horse. — Dependence of the 
hunter on his horse. — Return to the settlements. 




X the 2 2d of June, Captain Bonneville 
raised his camp, and moved to the forks 
of Wind River ; the appointed place 
of rendezvous. In a few days, he was joined 
there by the brigade of Montero, which had 
been sent, in the preceding year, to beat up the 
Crow country, and afterwards proceed to the Ar- 
kansas. Montero had followed the early part of 
his instructions ; after trapping upon some of the 
upper streams, he proceeded to Powder River. 
Here he fell in with the Crow villages or bands, 
who treated him with unusual kindness, and pre- 
vailed upon liim to take up his winter-quarters 
among them. 

The Crows, at that time, were struggling al- 
most for existence with their old enemies, the 
Blackfeet ; who, in the past year, had i)icked off 
the flower of their warriors in various enofaw- 
ments, and among the rest, Arapooish, the friend 
of the white men. That sagacious and magnan- 
imous chief had beheld, with grief, the ravages 



488 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

which war was making in his tribe, and that it 
was decHning in force, and must eventually be 
destroyed, unless some signal blow could be 
struck to retrieve its fortunes. In a pitched bat- 
tle of the two tribes, he made a speech to his 
warriors, urging them to set everytliing at haz- 
ard in one furious charge ; which done, he led 
the way into the thickest of the foe. He was 
soon separated from his men, and fell covered 
with wounds, but his self-devotion was not in 
vain. The Blackfeet were defeated; and from 
that time the Crows j^lucked up fresh heart, and 
were frequently successful. 

Montero had not been long encamped among 
them, when he discovered that the Blackfeet 
were hovering about the neighborhood. One 
day the hunters came galloping into the camp, 
and proclaimed that a band of the enemy was at 
hand. The Crows flew to arms, leaped on their 
horses, and dashed out in squadrons in pursuit. 
They overtook the retreating enemy in the midst 
of a plain. A desperate fight ensued. The 
Crows had the advantage of numbers, and of 
fighting on horseback. The greater part of the 
Blackfeet were slain ; the remnant took shelter 
in a close thicket of willows, where the horse 
could not enter ; whence they plied their bows 
vigorously. 

The Crows drew off out of bow-shot, and 
endeavored, by taunts and bravadoes, to draw the 
warriors out of their retreat. A few of the best 
mounted among them, rode apart from the rest. 
One of their number then advanced alone, with 



THE TAUNTING HORSEMAN. 489 

that martial air and equestrian grace for which 
the tribe is noted. When witliin an arrow's 
iiight of the thicket, he loosened his rein, urged 
his horse to full speed, threw his body on the 
opposite side, so as to hang by but one leg, and 
present no mark to the foe ; in this way, he 
swept along in front of the thicket, launching 
liis arrows from under the neck of his steed. 
Then regaining his seat in the saddle, he wheeled 
round, and returned whooping and scoffing to his 
companions, who received him with yells of ap- 
plause. 

Another and another horseman repeated this 
exploit ; but the Blackfeet were not to be taunted 
out of their safe shelter. The victors feared to 
drive desperate men to extremities, so they for- 
bore to attempt the thicket. Towards night they 
gave over the attack, and returned all-glorious 
with the scalps of the slain. Then came on the 
usual feasts and triumphs ; the scalp-dance of 
warriors round the ghastly trophies, and all the 
other fierce revelry of barbarous warfare. When 
the braves had finished with the scalps, they 
were, as usual, given up to the women and chil- 
dren, and made the objects of new parades and 
dances. They were then treasured up as in- 
valuable trophies and decorations by the braves 
who had won them. 

It is worthy of note, that the scalp of a white 
man, either through poHcy or fear, is ti'eated with 
more charity than that of an Indian. The war- 
rior who won it is entitled to his triumph if he 
demands it. In such case, the war party alone 



490 B ONNE VILLE'S AD VENTURES. 

dance round the scalp. It is then taken down, 
and the shagged frontlet of a buffalo substituted 
in its place, and abandoned to the triumphs and 
insults of the million. 

To avoid being involved in these guerillas, as 
well as to escaj^e from the extremely social inter- 
course of the Crows, which began to be oppres- 
sive, Montero moved to the distance of several 
miles from their camps, and there formed a win- 
ter cantonment of huts. He now maintained a 
vigilant watch at night. Their horses, which 
were turned loose to graze during the day, under 
heedful eyes, were brought in at night, and shut 
up in strong pens, built of large logs of cotton- 
wood. 

The snows, during a portion of the winter, 
were so deep that the poor animals could find 
but little sustenance. Here and there a tuft of 
grass would peer above the snow ; but they were 
in general driven to browse the twigs and tender 
branches of the trees. When they were turned 
out in the morning, the first moments of freedom 
from the confinement of the pen were spent in 
frisking and gamboling. This done, they went 
soberly and sadly to work, to glean their scanty 
subsistence for the day. In the meantime, the 
men stripped the bark of the cotton-wood tree 
for the evening fodder. As the poor horses 
would return towards night, with sluggish and 
dispirited air, the moment they saw their owners 
approaching them with blankets filled with cot- 
ton-wood bark, their whole demeanor underwent 
a change. A universal neighing and capering 



SAGACITY OF THE HORSE. 491 

took place ; they would rush forward, smell to 
the blankets, paw the earth, snort, whinny and 
prance round with head and tail erect, until the 
blankets were opened, and the welcome proven- 
der spread before them. These evidences of 
intelligence and gladness were frequently re- 
counted by the trapjDers as proving the sagacity 
of the animal. 

These veteran rovers of the mountains look 
upon their horses as in some respects gifted with 
almost human intellect. An old and experienced 
trapper, when mounting guard about the camp in 
dark nights and times of peril, gives heedful at- 
tention to all the sounds and signs of the horses. 
No enemy enters nor approaches the camp with- 
out attracting their notice, and their movements 
not only give a vague alarm, but it is said, will 
even mdicate to the knowing trapper the very 
quarter whence danger threatens. 

In the day-time, too, while a hunter is engaged 
on the prairie, catting up the deer or buffalo he 
has slain, he depends upon his faithful horse as 
a sentinel. The sagacious animal sees and smells 
all round him, and by his starting and whinny- 
ing, gives notice of the approach of strangers. 
There seems to be a dumb communion and fel- 
lowsliip, a sort of fraternal sympathy, between 
the hunter and his horse. They mutually rely 
upon each other for company and protection ; 
and nothing is more difficult, it is said, than to 
surprise an experienced hunter on the prairie, 
while his old and favorite steed is at his side. 

Montero had not long removed his camp from 



492 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES, 

the vicinity of the Crows, and fixed himself m 
his new quarters, when the Blackfeet marauders 
discovered his cantonment, and began to haunt 
the vicmity. He kept up a vigilant watch, how- 
ever, and foiled every attempt of the enemy, 
who, at length, seemed to have given up in des- 
pair, and abandoned the neighborhood. The 
trappers relaxed theu' vigilance, therefore, and 
one night, after a day of severe labor, no guards 
were posted, and the whole camp was soon 
asleep. Towards midnight, however, the light- 
est sleepers were roused by the trampling of 
hoofs ; and, giving the alarm, the whole party 
were immediately on their legs, and hastened to 
the pens. The bars were down ; but no enemy 
was to be seen or heard, and the horses being all 
found hard by, it was supposed the bars had 
been left down tlirough negligence. All were 
once more asleep, when, in about an hour, there 
was a second alarm, and it was discovered that 
several horses were missing. The rest were 
mounted, and so spirited a pursuit took place, 
that eighteen of the number carried off were re- 
gained, and but three remained in possession of 
the enemy. Traps, for wolves, had been set 
about the camp the preceding day. In the 
morning, it was discovered that a Blackfoot was 
entrapped by one of them, but had succeeded in 
dragging it off. His trail was followed for a 
long distance, which he must have limped alone. 
At length, he appeared to have fallen in with 
some of his comrades, who had relieved him from 
his painful incumbrance. 



RETURN TO CIVILIZED LIFE. 493 

These were the leading incidents of Montero's 
campaign in the Crow country. The united 
parties now celebrated the 4th of July, in rough 
hunters' style, with hearty conviviality ; after 
wliich Captain Bonneville made liis final arrange- 
ments. Leaving Montero with a brigade of 
tiiappers to open another campaign, he put him- 
self at the head of the residue of his men, and 
set off on liis return to civilized life. We shall 
not detail his journey along the course of the 
Nebraska, and so, from point to point of the 
wilderness, until he and his band reached the 
frontier settlements on the 2 2d of August. 

Here, according to his own account, his caval- 
cade might have been taken for a procession of 
tatterdemalion savaojes ; for the men were ras^sjed 
almost to nakedness, and had contracted a wild- 
ness of aspect during three years of wandering 
in the wilderness. A few hours in a populous 
town, however, produced a magical metamor- 
phosis. Hats of the most ample brim and long- 
est nap ; coats with buttons that shone like mir- 
rors, and pantaloons of the most ample plenitude, 
took place of the well-worn trapi^er's equipments ; 
and the happy wearers might be seen strolling 
about in all directions, scattering their silver like 
sailors just from a cruise. 

The worthy captam, however, seems by no 
means to have shared the excitement of his men, 
on finding himself once more in the thronged 
resorts of civilized life, but, on the contrary, to 
have looked back to the wilderness with regret. 
" Though the prospect," says he, " of once more 



494 BONNEVILLE'S ADVENTURES. 

tasting tlie blessings of peaceful society, and pass- 
ing days and nights under the calm guardiansliip 
of the laws, was not without its attractions ; yet 
to those of us whose whole lives had been spent 
in the stirring excitement and perj^etual watch- 
fulness of adventures in the wilderness, the 
change was far from promising an increase of 
that contentment and inward satisftiction most 
conducive to happiness. He who, like myself, 
has roved almost from boyhood among the chil- 
dren of the forest, and over the unfurrowed 
plains and rugged heights of the western wastes, 
will not be startled to learn, that notwithstand- 
ing all the fascinations of the world on this civi- 
lized side of the mountains, I would fain make 
my bow to the splendors and gayeties of the me- 
tropolis, and plunge again amidst the hardships 
and perils of the wilderness." 

We have only to add, that the affairs of the 
captain have been satisfactorily arranged with the 
War Department, and that he is actually in 
service at Fort Gibson, on our western frontier ; 
where we hope he may meet with further ojjpor- 
tuiiities of indulging his peculiar tastes, and of 
collecting graphic and characteristic details of the 
great western wilds and their motley inhat)itants. 



We here close our picturings of the Rocky 
Mountains and their wild inhabitants, and of the 
wild life that prevails there ; which we have 
been anxious to fix on record, because we are 



CONCLUDING REMARKS. 495 

aware that this singular state of things is full of 
mutation, and must soon undergo great changes, 
if not entirely pass away. The fur trade, itself, 
which has given life to all this portraiture, is 
essentially evanescent. Rival parties of trappers 
soon exhaust the streams, especially when com- 
petition renders them heedless and wasteful of 
the beaver. The fur-bearing animals extinct, a 
complete change will come over the scene : the 
gay free trapper and his steed, decked out in 
wild array, and tinkling with bells and trink- 
etry ; the savage war chief, plumed and painted, 
and ever on the prowl ; the traders' cavalcade, 
winding through defiles or over naked plains, 
with the stealthy war party lurking on its trail ; 
the buffalo chase, the hunting camp, the mad 
carouse in the midst of danger, the night attack, 
the stampado, the scamper, the fierce skirmish 
among rocks and cliffs, — all this romance of 
savage life, which yet exists among the moun- 
tains, will then exist but in fi-ontier story, and 
seem like the fictions of chivalry or fairy tale. 

Some new system of tlimgs, or rather some 
new modification, will succeed among the roving 
people of this vast wilderness ; but just as oppo- 
site, perhaps, to the habitudes of civilization. 
The great Chippewyan chain of mountains, and 
the sandy and volcanic plains which extend on 
either side, are represented as inca})al)le of culti- 
vation. The pasturage, which prevails there 
during a certain portion of the year, soon with- 
ers under the aridity of the atmosphere, and 
leaves notliing but dreary wastes. An immense 



496 B ONNE VILLE' S AD VENTURES. 

belt of rocky mountains and volcanic plains, 
several hundred miles in width, must ever remain 
an irreclaimable wilderness, intervening between 
the abodes of civilization, and affording a last 
refuge to the Indian. Here roving tribes of 
hunters, living in tents or lodges, and following 
the migrations of the game, may lead a life of 
savage independence, where there is nothing to 
tempt the cupidity of the wliite man. The 
amalgamation of various tribes, and of white 
men of every nation, will in time produce hybrid 
races like the mountain Tartars of the Caucasus. 
Possessed as they are of immense droves of 
horses, should they continue their present pred- 
atory and warlike habits, they may, in time, be- 
come a scourge to the civilized frontiers on either 
side of the mountains ; as they are at present a 
terror to the traveller and trader. 

The facts disclosed in the present work, clearly 
manifest the policy of establishing miUtary posts 
and a mounted force to protect our traders in 
their journeys across the great western wilds, 
and of pushing the outposts into the very heart 
of the singular wilderness we have laid open, so 
as to maintain some degree of sway over the 
country, and to put an end to the kind of " black 
mail," levied on all occasions by the savage " chiv- 
alry of the mountains." 



APPENDIX. 



NATHANIEL J. WYETH, AND THE TRADE OF THE FAR 
WEST. 

We have brought Captain Bonneville to the end 
of his western campaigning ; yet we cannot close this 
work without subjoining some particulars concerning 
the fortunes of his contemporary, Mr. Wyeth ; anec- 
dotes of whose enterprise have, occasionally, been 
interwoven in the party-colored web of our narrative. 
Wyeth effected his intention of establishing a trad- 
ing post on the Portneuf, which he named Fort Hall. 
Here, for the first time, the American flag was un- 
furled to the breeze that sweeps the great naked 
wastes of the central wilderness. Leaving twelve 
men here, with a stock of goods, to trade with the 
neighboring tribes, he prosecuted his journey to the 
Columbia ; where he established another post, called 
Fort Williams, on Wappatoo Island, at the mouth 
of the Wallamut. This was to be the head factory 
of his company ; whence they were to carry on their 
fishing and trapping operations, and their trade with 
the interior ; and where they were to receive and 
dispatch their annual ship. 

The plan of Mr. Wyeth appears to have been well 
concerted. He had observed that the Kocky Moun- 
tain Fur Company, the bands of fi-ee trappers, as 
well as the Intlians west of the mountains, depended 
32 



498 APPENDIX. 

for their supplies upon goods brought from St. Louis ; 
which, in consequence of the expenses and risks of 
a long land carriage, were furnished them at an im- 
mense advance on first cost. He had an idea that 
they might be much more cheaply supplied from the 
Pacific side. Horses would cost much less on the 
borders of the Columbia than at St. Louis : the trans- 
portation by land was much shorter, and through a 
country much more safe from the hostility of savage 
tribes, which, on the route from and to St. Louis, an- 
nually cost the lives of many men. On this idea, he 
grounded his plan. He combined the salmon fishery 
with the fur trade. A fortified trading post was to 
be established on the Columbia, to carry on a trade 
with the natives for salmon and peltries, and to fish 
and trap on their own account. Once a year, a ship 
was to come from the United States, to bring out 
goods for the interior trade, and to take home the 
salmon and fiirs which have been collected. Part of 
the goods, thus brought out, were to be dispatched to 
the mountains, to supply the trapping companies and 
the Indian tribes, in exchange for their furs : which 
were to be brought down to the Columbia, to be 
sent home in the next annual ship : and thus an an- 
nual round was to be kept up. The profits on the 
salmon, it was expected, would cover all the expenses 
of the ship ; so that the goods brought out, and the 
furs carried home, would cost nothing as to freight. 

His enterprise was prosecuted with a spirit, intel- 
ligence, and perseverance, that merited success. All 
the details that we have met with, prove him to be 
no ordinary man. He appears to have the mind to 
conceive, and the energy to execute extensive and 
striking plans. He had once more reared the Amer- 
ican flag in the lost domains of Astoria ; and had he 
been enabled to maintain the footing he had so gal- 



APPENDIX. 499 

lantly effected, he might have regained for his 
country the opulent trade of the Cokmibia, of which 
our statesmen have negligently suffered us to be dls- 



It is needless to go into a detail of the variety 
of accidents and cross-purposes, which caused the 
failure of his scheme. They were such as all under- 
takings of the kind, involving combined operation^ 
by sea and land, are liable to. What he most 
wanted, was sufficient capital to enable him to en- 
dure incipient obstacles and losses ; and to hold on 
until success had time to spring up from the midst 
of disastrous experiments. 

It is with extreme regret we learn that he has re- 
cently been compelled to dispose of his establishment 
at AVappatoo Island, to the Hudson's Bay Company ; 
who, it is but justice to say, have, according to his 
own account, treated him throughout the whole of 
his enterprise, with great fairness, friendship, and lib- 
erality. That company, therefore, still maintains an 
unrivaled sway over the whole country washed by 
the Columbia and its tributaries. It has, in fact, as 
far as its chartered powers permit, followed out the 
splendid scheme contemplated by Mr. Astor, when 
he founded his estabUshment at the mouth of the 
Columbia. From their emporium of Vancouver, 
companies are sent forth in every direction, to supply 
the interior posts, to trade with the natives, and to 
trade upon the various streams. These thread the 
rivers, traverse the plains, penetrate to the heart 
of the mountains, extend their enterprise northward, 
to the Russian possessions, and southward, to the 
confines of California. Their yearly supplies are re- 
ceived by sea, at Vancouver ; and thence their furs 
and peltries are shipped to London. They likewise 
maintain a considerable commerce, in wheat and 



500 APPENDIX. 

lumber, with the Pacific islands, and to the north, 
with the Russian settlements. 

Though the company, by treaty, have a right to a 
participation only, in the trade of these regions, and 
are, in fact, but tenants on suiferance ; yet have they 
quietly availed themselves of the original oversight, 
and subsequent supineness of the American govern- 
ment, to establish a monopoly of the trade of the river 
and its dependencies ; and are adroitly proceeding to 
fortify themselves in their usurpation, by securing all 
the strong points of the country. 

Fort George, originally Astoria, which was aban- 
doned on the removal of the main factory to Van- 
couver, was renewed in 1830 ; and is now kept up as 
a fortified post and trading house. All the places 
accessible to shipping have been taken possession of, 
and posts recently established at them by the com- 
pany. 

The great capital of this association ; their long 
established system ; their hereditary influence over 
the Indian tribes ; their internal organization, which 
makes everything go on with the regularity of a ma- 
chine ; and the low wages of their people, who are 
mostly Canadians, give them great axlvantages over 
the American traders : nor is it likely the latter will 
ever be able to maintain any footing in the land, un- 
til the question of territorial right is adjusted between 
the two countries. The sooner that takes place, the 
better. It is a question too serious to national pride, 
if not to national interest, to be slurred over ; and 
every year is adding to the difficulties which envi- 
ron it. 

The flir trade, which is now the main object of en- 
terprise west of the Rocky Mountains, forms but a 
part of the real resources of the country. Beside the 
salmon fishery of the Columbia, which is capable of 



APPENDIX. 501 

being rendered a considerable source of profit ; the 
great valleys of the lower country, below the elevated 
volcanic plateau, are calculated to give sustenance to 
countless flocks and herds, and to sustain a great 
population of graziers and agriculturists. 

Such, for instance, is the beautiful valley of the 
Wallamut ; from which the establishment at Van- 
couver draws most of its supplies. Here, the com- 
pauy holds mills and ftirms ; and has provided for some 
of its superannuated officers and servants. This 
valley, above the falls, is about fifty miles wide, and 
extends a grent distance to the south. The climate 
is mild, being sheltered by lateral ranges of mountains ; 
while the soil, for richness, has been equaled to the 
best of the Missouri lands. The valley of the river 
Des Chutes, is also admirably calculated for a great 
grazing country. All the best horses used by the 
company for the mountains, are raised there. The 
valley is of such happy temperature, that grass grows 
there throughout the year, and cattle may be left out 
to pasture during the winter. These valleys nmst 
form the grand points of commencement of the future 
settlement of the country ; but there must be many 
such, enfolded in the embraces of these lower ranges 
of mountains, which, though at present they lie waste 
and uninhabited, and, to the eye of the trader and 
trapper, present but barren Avastes, would, in the 
hands of skillful agriculturists and husbanduien, soon 
assume a different aspect, and teem with waving 
crops, or be covered with flocks and herds. 

The resources of the country, too, while in the 
hanils of a company restricted in its trade, can be but 
partially called forth ; but in the hands of Americans, 
enjoying a direct trade with the East Indies, would 
be brought into quickening activity, and might soon 
realize the dream of Mr. Astor, in giving rise to a 
flourishing commercial empire. 



502 APPENDIX. 

WRECK OP A JAPANESE JUNK ON THE NORTHWEST 
COAST. 

The following extract of a letter which we re- 
ceived, lately, from Mr. Wyetb, may be Interesting, 
as throwing some light upon the question as to the 
manner In which America has been peopled. 

" Are you aware of the fact, that in the winter of 
1833, a Japanese junk was wrecked on the northwest 
coast, in the neighborhood of Queen Charlotte's Island ; 
and that all but two of the crew, then much reduced 
by starvation and disease, during a long drift across 
the Pacific, were killed by the natives ? The two fell 
into the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company and 
were sent to England. I saw them, on my arrival 
at Vancouver, In 1834." 



INSTRUCTIONS TO CAPTAIN BONNEVILLE FROM THE 
MAJOR-GENERAL COMMANDING THE ARMY OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 

Head-quarters of the Armij. 
Washington, August 3, 1831. 

Sir, — The leave of absence which you have asked, 
for the purpose of enabling you to carry Into execution 
your design of exploring the country to the Rocky 
Mountains and beyond, with a view of ascertaining 
the nature and character of the several tribes of 
Indians inhabiting those regions ; the trade which 
might be profitably carried on with them ; the qual- 
ity of the soil, the productions, the minerals, the 
natural history, the climate, the geography and topo- 
graphy, as well as geology, of the various parts of the 
country within the limits of the territories belonging 
to the United States, between our frontier and the 
Pacific, — has been duly considered and submitted to 



APPENDIX. 503 

the War Department for approval, and has been 
sanctioned. You are, therefore, authorized to be ab- 
sent from the army until October, 1833. It is under- 
stood that the government is to be at no expense in 
reference to your proposed expedition, it having orig- 
inated with yourself ; and all that you required was 
the permission from the proper authority to under- 
take the enterprise. You will, naturally, in preparing 
yourself for the expedition, provide suitable instru- 
ments, and especially the best maps of the interior to 
be found. 

It is desirable, besides what is enumerated as the 
object of your enterprise, that you note particularly 
the number of warriors that may be in each tribe or 
nation that you may meet with ; their alliances with 
other tribes, and their relative position as to a state 
of peace or war, and whether their friendly or warlike 
dispositions towards each other are recent or of long 
standing. You will gratify us by describing their 
manner of making war ; of the mode of subsisting 
themselves during a state of war, and a state of peace ; 
their arms, and the effect of them ; whether they act 
on foot or on horseback ; detailing the discipline and 
maneuvers of the war parties ; the power of their 
horses, size, and general description ; in short, every 
information which you may conceive would be useful 
to the government. 

You will avail yourself of every opportunity of in- 
forming us of your position and progress, and at the 
expiration of your leave of absence, will join your 
proper station. 

I have the honour to be, Sir, 
Your obt. servant, 

ALEXANDER MACOMB, 
Major- General^ cotninanding the Army. 

Ca{»t. B. L. E. BoNNEViLLK, 

Itli Refjt. oflnjantry, New York. 



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